Dr. J. Vernon Luck; Pioneered Reattachment of Limbs
Dr. J. Vernon Luck, an orthopedic surgeon who invented the Luck Bone Saw, wrote the definitive textbook on bone pathology and pioneered the reattachment of limbs, has died. He was 87.
Luck, who was medical director of Orthopaedic Hospital from 1955 to 1968 and lived in Hancock Park, died Monday in Los Angeles of cancer, the hospital announced Wednesday.
On Aug. 24, 1961, Robert Orona had his left arm almost completely severed in a freeway construction accident--a situation that at the time called for complete amputation. But Luck decided to reattach the mangled arm--bone, blood vessels, nerves, muscles and all--in one of the first successful limb reattachments in history.
Three and a half years later, when Orona demonstrated the functional, healthy arm for news media by lifting a coffee cup, Luck said modestly, “Yes, we would certainly call it a success.”
It was only one of the doctor’s many successful endeavors during more than six decades in orthopedic surgery and research. He invented his bone saw in 1941 and many other pieces of equipment over the years, including the Luck Cup, used in hip replacement surgery. During World War II he wrote a history of orthopedic surgery that won him the Legion of Merit from the U.S. surgeon general in 1947, and in 1950 he published his widely used textbook “Bone and Joint Disease.”
In surgery, he not only reattached Orona’s arm but also performed the first elective surgery (a total hip replacement) on a hemophiliac.
Greatly admired by his peers, Luck was elected in 1961 as president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Later in life, although he had abandoned surgery, Luck bristled at the idea of retirement.
“I have not retired,” he told The Times in 1986. “I have changed direction to orthopedic research, but I still work a nine- or 10-hour day.”
Orthopaedic Hospital honored his dedication in 1987 by naming its research facility the J. Vernon Luck M.D. Orthopaedic Research Center.
In addition to Orthopaedic Hospital, Luck worked on the staffs of the Hospital of the Good Samaritan, Childrens Hospital, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and County-USC Medical Center. He wrote more than 75 scientific papers.
A native of Hannibal, Mo., Luck became interested in orthopedics at age 4 when his mother’s leg was amputated because of an abscess in her knee. He studied medicine at the University of Missouri, which years later awarded him its Citation of Merit for his achievements.
Luck is survived by a son, Dr. James V. Luck Jr., medical director and chief executive officer of Orthopaedic Hospital of Glendale; a daughter, Diane Luck Carter of Manhattan Beach; a sister, Mary Frances Davis of Ottawa, Kan., and six grandchildren.
Services are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at First Congregational Church, 6th Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Los Angeles, with interment at Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Glendale. Visitation hours are 1 to 9 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Glendale.
The family has requested that any memorial donations be made to the J. Vernon Luck M.D. Research Fund at Orthopaedic Hospital, 2400 S. Flower St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90007.
