Iowa and world lose another giant

Last month, we lost Iowa native Norman Borlaug, whose revolutionary work saved up to a billion people from starvation.

On Sunday, we lost another giant with strong ties to Iowa. Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, whose international clinic is housed at the University of Iowa, pioneered a non-surgical method to correct the birth defect of clubfoot.

Both men were 95. During their long, productive lives, both were respected for their humanitarian efforts as well as their professional achievements.

But while Borlaug's development of high-yield food crops spawned the “green revolution” and a Nobel Peace Prize by 1970, the revolution in clubfoot treatment Ponseti devised didn't gain widespread acceptance until the 1990s.

Ponseti, born in Spain the son of a watchmaker, earned his medical education in Barcelona. While working in Mexico, he met Dr. Juan Farill, who recommended him to the University of Iowa's Dr. Arthur Steindler. Ponseti came to the UI in 1941 and began to review clubfoot surgery results.

Ponseti found that surgery often didn't work well. It spurred him to find a non-surgical method. By the 1950s, he perfected his technique of manipulating ligaments and tendons and applying a series of plaster casts to the full leg as it developed. The success rate was at least 95 percent.

Sadly, there was long-lasting resistance to this technique.

Perseverance in educating people plus a book and the expansion of the Internet finally achieved widespread acceptance of the Ponseti method.

Clubfoot is present in about one in every 1,000 births. Tens of thousands of children have benefitted from Ponseti's methods, gaining the priceless ability to walk normally.

Ponseti also has been widely praised for his humanity - his ability to instill trust in his patients and their parents. Many affectionately called him “Papa Ponseti.”

Remarkably, he continued to practice through late last year. A broken hip in January sidelined him - for a while. Eventually, he returned to his clinic to advise doctors and meet with former patients.

Ponseti further assured his legacy by training more than 250 doctors at the UI. Another 1,800 worldwide use his techniques. The good doctor's work, like Borlaug's, undoubtedly will serve many generations to come.