241838 Helen Fairchild British Red Cross No.4 Casualty Clearing Station Voluntary Aid Detachment (d.18th Jan 1918) VAD Helen Fairchild arrived to serve at No.4 Casualty Clearing Station in the Ypres Sector on 22nd of July 1917. During the November fighting she was exposed to mustard gas and developed severe abdominal pains. Helen continued to work but just before Christmas a Barium meal X-Ray revealed a large gastric ulcer obstructing her pylorus. Doctors suggested that it had probably been worsened by exposure to poisonous gas. She underwent a gastro-enterostomy operation on 13th of January 1918. Initial recovery progressed well but on the third day she began to deteriorate and after going into a coma she passed away on the 18th of January 1918.
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