Wishbone Relay is the most ambitious fundraising events series undertaken by the Wishbone Foundation to date. With orthopaedic surgeons Perry Turner & Ian Galley heading the team, local coordinators all over New Zealand have stepped up to create unique adventures that will challenge & connect the wider orthopaedic community from Bluff to Cape Reinga.
The positive energy created by the collaborations is already being felt strongly & helped keep motivation high during the intense organisational phases of 2023 and during the pause for a summer break (training?) ahead of the physical legs starting in January 2024.
In the spirit of collegial competition, orthopods David Bartle (Tauranga) & Roy Craig(Hutt/Wellington) both rose to the challenge of creating beautiful and unique batons to accompany Relay participants along the journey.
Here are some insights into how their amazing artworks took form...
David Bartle
With some inspirational support from a few others, David set himself the ambitious goal of carving a femur.... no small feat to fit around a busy surgical schedule. Is this beautiful work of art modelled from the leg of surgeons Chan, Vane or Muir? despite speculation, the artist has neither confirmed or denied his muses identity.
After finding the fitting femur, he says the next challenge was deciding on the type of wood to use given there are so many beautiful species in Aotearoa.
David chose to release his design from a piece of Northland Swamp Kauri.
The unique and intriguing history of Swamp Kauri fascinates him and it has a beautiful grain - but he notes it can be a difficult wood to work with. He said that usually the parts of the wood which have the most interesting grain are also the most fragile, as they may be near knots or burls in the wood. The piece he selected had a large defect right in the middle of what would become the shaft of the femur.
"As orthopaedic surgeons we are often met with challenging situations and I wished to incorporate this into the form. The plan is to carve around this and splint the ‘fractured’ carving in a similar way to how we would splint a real femur in surgery."
Fast forward many creative hours & David managed to fix the fracture with a brass rod.
This photo below shows the finished sculpture drying after a dip in a protective coating.
While David says the final finish will be less glossy, nothing will reduce the shine of this creative beauty that will first be used proudly as a baton for the North Island legs & then as an annual award celebrating research excellence.
Roy Craig
Roy also chose to model his baton (being used in the South Island Relay legs) on a femur that he has had ever since his medical school days. He chose our native Totara to work with.
Retired orthopaedic surgeon, mentor & friend Chris Bossley then kindly donated a prosthetic knee to the project. While there were soft murmurings of "disqualification" when Roy placed a right TKJR on a left femur - artistic license trumps such detail, so his attention turned to the carvings he wanted to add, their meanings & connections to this project.
School friend & renowned carver Sam Hauwaho (Ngāi Tūhoe) supported Roy with some carving tips & tricks -then even generously implemented some of the designs himself.
With the femur finished & already on it's journey to the deep south with Perry Turner, Roy will continue working on the base... watch this space!
What Next?
Our sincere thanks to both David & Roy for these insights in to their creative process and for gifting these two very special & unique taonga to the Wishbone Foundation.
After the Relay concludes they will be used as annual awards presented at the NZOA ASM to recognise the best Wishbone research paper & the top Wishbone contributor - this could be a group, company or individual...more details coming post Relay!
Joining as a Wishbone Relay participant has a donation component that feeds directly into the Wishbone research fund, but if you are unable to physically take part, you can support local orthopaedic research with a donation at any time using this link.
Donations over $5 are tax deductible & we are grateful for your support in all forms.