Alexis St. Martin, an employee of the American Fur Company, was shot in the stomach accidentally on 6th June 1822. He survived under the care of U.S. Army surgeon, William Beaumont, who was able to study the human digestive process.
Though Beaumont had expected the victim to die from the bullet wound, St. Martin lived for another 58 years with a hole (fistula) in his stomach. St. Martin became William Beaumont’s handyman and the physician was able to conduct several digestion studies.
William Beaumont is regarded as the “Father of Gastric Physiology”.
