MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Viktor Rekhachov is unique. He says the word is confusing to him. He can’t see anything special about himself. Russia’s outstanding doctor at the age of 90 continues to give consultations and to read lectures. He stopped surgeries at the age of 80 - that was his deliberate position. The Rekhachovs are doctors in six generations. The granddaughter is also a surgeon.

Surgery on desk

At the age of seven, Viktor dreamed of sailing - but he was too young. Later on, the dream was to become a miller - he liked how the word sounds. Another dream was to be a military, but doctors misdiagnosed his heart disorder and the dream could not come true. Then, his mom got ill. The boy saw that doctors had rescued her - this understanding was a turning point. In 1949, he took a wooden case and traveled to Arkhangelsk to study medicine there.

He graduated from the medical university and was sent to work in the native village Yemetsk.

- Back then, at the hospital, we did not have electricity or water, and the only surgery light was from a kerosene lamp. We heated sterilizers on kerosene stoves, - the doctor said. - Once, I had to cut a perforated ulcer at a forest office, on just a regular desk, using local anesthetics. It was out of the question to be transporting the patient to the hospital some 30-40 kilometers by a snow road. Luckily, I had instruments, and a scrub nurse was there with me. Those were the conditions in which we had to work.

At the age of 80, he made his last surgery. This decision was quite deliberate - he was giving way to young doctors. Though he said, the hands were firm and he could’ve continued working. Anyway, right now, at the age of 90, he still works. Gives consultations (people may stop him in the street to ask for advice), and reads lectures to other doctors. He prefers to walk to the hospital, never uses the elevator. In his office, we can see very many books, portraits of the most important people: teachers, friends, and wife Emma.

- We’ve met not at a dancing floor; it was during a communist party meeting. I was 28, she was 23 - their joint picture is under the glass on the table. Viktor touches it gently.

They have lived together for 62 years. Have been to half of the countries across the globe - to Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Africa. Wherever they were, the biggest dream was to return home.

- Interestingly, how this "home" changes depending on where you are. When abroad I want to return to Russia, when in Moscow - to Arkhangelsk, and if there - to my native Yemetsk. I lived in the village to the age of 17, and since then at least two months every year I spend in my native house, - Viktor said.

Listen - if you would

Viktor has met a writer, ethnographer, and artist, who lived in Arkhangelsk, - Stepan Pisakhov.

When a student, Viktor lived exclusively on a scholarship. Only rarely he could afford to go to a canteen. One day, all the tables were taken, and the student shared a table with a weird man.

- Long grey hair, cats were fussing around his feet as he treated them. I come and ask if I may take a seat. "Do please, young man."

I can remember clearly. On that day, I had pancakes. I hurried to eat. He was looking at me, and then said: "Excuse me, are you a student?" I told him I studied at the medical university. He began asking questions, and, as if, to teach me. I finished the dish and left, rather irritated, - Viktor said.

Later, Viktor learned who that man was: a true fairy-tale writer. The student had not read his books.

- Next time, I came up to him to share the table. He advised me to watch the world and to learn from other people whatever I did not know, - Viktor said.

During a trip onboard a foreign vessel, Viktor had to present his native town - that was a tradition. The man had Pisakhov’s book. After the presentation, the ship’s captain came up to Viktor and asked for a book - he liked the Northern tales so much.

Artist of one painting

Rekhachov has an ex libris, drawn by artist Nikolay Kislyakov. A snow-covered village, above it shines the clear starry sky and the northern lights, an open book - a symbol of knowledge, to the right from it - the life tree, to the left from it - surgical tools: a scalpel and tweezers.

- Nikolay is the author of the well-known picture of young Lomonosov. He told me: "Here, Viktor, is what my life is like: people know me by just one painting, and now imagine - I made it when I was a graduate." By the way, the old man said that in that picture, behind the future scientist, the artist drew his father.

The village on the ex libris is not Yemetsk. The artist was trying hard, and anyway, he painted his own native village.

The art of hands

- Surgeons must take decisions quickly. You don’t have the luxury of saying: "I’ll think about it tomorrow."

A woman was hit by a tractor, her shin and foot were crushed. The doctor faced a choice: an amputation or an attempt to restore the disfigured leg. He chose the second option. The patient recovered, with just a slight limp.

- The bravery of a surgeon cannot be compared with that of a military or stunt. They risk their lives. Surgeons risk the lives of their patients. This explains the saying: the surgeon dies with his every passed patient. The ongoing tension - psychological and physical, work beyond hours, sleepless nights - it’s a tough job, - he said.

One day, at a lumber mill, a stack of planks fell on a woman. It was an emergency call, but it was impossible to get there quickly through the spring mud. The team was given a helicopter. They’ve made it. The only suitable landing site was the school football field. Children were playing there and the helicopter could not land — the kids could not understand they were to move away. Victor and the nurse had to jump off, carrying all the tools.

- Surgery is a science, a skill, and an art. Talent is above all. Though not only it. A doctor must always be in the operating room, take extra hours, learn. This is why Professor Orlov used to say: "No surgeons grow from sciatic bumps," - Viktor told us.

Rekhachov has been decorated with an award For Devotion to Profession. Viktor smiled at the title, asking: "Isn’t it vice versa?" He has been in the profession for more than 60 years.

- Surgery is also called "the art of hands." Hands must work in addition to the brain. We all need to be taught to play the piano. And still, some will be able only to press a few keys, but others will be playing like (Sviatoslav) Richter. The Northerners have a saying: "The same bands, but different hands." In surgery, it’s absolutely true, - Rekhachov said.

Surgery and soul

And yet, the art of hands and the art of mind are not enough, the doctor said adding - any surgeon must have a deep professional charm, a big human caring for patients. Here, he remembered the founder of the Russian surgery: "All those getting prepared to become useful citizens, at first must learn to be people."

- Can a doctor even think or ask: "How will it pay?" The first thing to have in mind is - what can I give to the patient, - the surgeon said. He always gives free consultations. In case he is uncertain about something, he addresses the pupils, remembers the advice by writer Pisakhov.

In the office, behind the glass of a bookcase is a picture. A penguin jumps off the ice, and at that moment it seems flying.

- I’ve brought this picture from Norway. I liked it a lot. Penguins do not fly, and this one - does "fly." Just like in life: in certain situations, people can do the impossible.

And the rest (in that picture other birds are watching the penguin) can see: he did manage, thus we are also capable.