Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death S01E04 - Episode 4

Twenty-nine-year-old Laura faces an excruciating decision. Diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, she's been told that her only chance to extend her life and spend more time with her young daughter, is to have the tumour taken out. But there's a catch.

In order to make sure that all the tumour is removed, surgeon Ismail Urghratdar must sacrifice tissue from a healthy part of Laura's brain – the hippocampus - which is responsible for storing memory. It's a devastating dilemma for Laura. Should she sign up for a hugely risky surgery knowing that it will have a drastic effect on her memory and may even kill her? Or wait it out and try to enjoy the years she has left?

Across the hospital, Lee prepares himself for a procedure that he hopes will return his quality of life after years of battling excruciating pain. Emergency surgery in 2016, to repair a ruptured colon, left him in agony and since then the pain has been so intense that he contemplated suicide. Now he has a second chance. Colorectal surgeons Chuk Abraham-Igwe and Charles Hendrickse attempt to remove Lee's inflamed bowel and rectum in what is hugely complex and life-threatening surgery. Will this surgery finally bring peace for Lee, having already gone through so much?

And 80-year-old David needs surgery to remove a section of his oesophagus after months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment to shrink a tumour. But while surgeon Raj Nijjar knows that this is the only chance his patient has for survival, he's also aware that in a man of such advanced years, this risky procedure could also kill him.