Jerri Nielsen
An emergency doctor at the South Pole who performed a biopsy on herself, then fought for months in brutal isolation before a daring rescue.
1952–2009 (age 57)·American ER physician·Birthday: March 1·Baby Boomers
Biography
Jerri Nielsen was an emergency room physician who craved a radical change, which led her to accept a post as the sole doctor at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in 1998. During the Antarctic winter, under a sunless sky and cut off from all evacuation, she discovered a lump in her breast. With only textbooks and guidance via shaky satellite link, she taught her colleagues—mostly mechanics and engineers—how to assist her in performing her own biopsy. For months, she self-administered chemotherapy in the most hostile environment on Earth, her spirit as unyielding as the ice. Her eventual mid-winter rescue by a daring Air National Guard flight was a global news event, transforming her into a symbol of human resilience. Nielsen survived the ordeal and continued to practice medicine, sharing her story in a memoir before her death in 2009, a testament to a will that refused to be frozen out.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Jerri was born in 1952, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Jerri Was Born
The biggest hits of 1952
#1 Movie
The Greatest Show on Earth
Best Picture
The Greatest Show on Earth
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Jerri's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1952Born
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1957Started school
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1965Became a teenager
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Could drive
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1970Could vote
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Turned 21
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1982Turned 30
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 40
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 50
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2009Died at 57
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
Key Achievements
- Served as the sole physician at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station during the isolated winter months.
- Successfully self-diagnosed and self-treated her breast cancer while completely cut off from the outside world.
- Her perilous mid-winter medical evacuation from the South Pole in 1999 was an unprecedented aviation feat.
- Authored the memoir 'Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole.'
Did You Know?
She initially kept her cancer diagnosis a secret from her family to avoid worrying them.
The LC-130 Hercules aircraft that rescued her landed in complete darkness at temperatures nearing -60°C (-76°F).
Before going to Antarctica, she was a director of an emergency department at a hospital in Ohio.
Her story was adapted into a television film starring Susan Sarandon.
““I learned that in the midst of a frozen, barren landscape, I could find warmth and beauty.””
