Bone Setters of Ynys Môn

Available for 33 days

The remarkable Welsh origins of orthopaedic surgery begin with a mystery, a young boy, barely alive, washed up on the shore of Ynys y Fydlyn on Anglesey. Taken in by a local family, he soon revealed an extraordinary gift - the ability to dislocate and reset the bones of animals with perfect precision. As he grew, that skill extended to people, and across generations his descendants carried the same talent. Among them was Hugh Owen Thomas, later known as the father of orthopaedic surgery, creator of the Thomas Splint that saved thousands of lives in the First World War. Another relative founded Gobowen Hospital and pioneered the use of X rays in orthopaedic care. This programme follows three storytellers linked to the tradition: Dr Dylan Jones, a Bangor University lecturer captivated by the bonesetters’ legacy Dyfrig Roberts, a descendant who inherited the family line, but not the skill Awen Iorwerth, an orthopaedic surgeon from Ynys Môn, part of a remarkable group of local pupils who all entered the field We take Awen back to Llanfairynghornwy Church, where she discovers the grave of the boy who began it all - a moving moment that roots modern medicine in one extraordinary Welsh story. This is the tale of how Ynys Môn gave the world the science of orthopaedics.