Sheila Cassidy

Dr. Sheila Cassidy (born 1937, Cranwell, Lincolnshire, England) is an English doctor, known for her work in the hospice movement, as a writer and as someone who, by publicising her own history as a torture survivor, drew attention to human rights abuse in Chile in the 1970s.

Early life

Cassidy grew up in Sydney, and attended the Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. She began her medical studies at the University of Sydney and completed them at Oxford University in 1963. She wanted to become a plastic surgeon but couldn't keep up with the 90-hour week, so she went to practise medicine in Chile during the government of Salvador Allende.

Torture

In 1975, Cassidy was caught up in the violence of the Pinochet regime. She gave medical care to a political opponent of the new regime who was being sought by the police. As a result, she was herself arrested by the Chilean secret police, the DINA, and kept in custody without trial. During the early part of her custody, she was severely tortured in the notorious Villa Grimaldi near Santiago, Chile, in order to force her to disclose information about her patient and her other contacts.^{[citation needed]}

On her release from custody and return to the UK, Cassidy's description of her experiences, including her account of her torture on the parrilla and her imprisonment, did much to bring to the attention of the UK public the widespread human right abuses that were occurring at the time in Chile. Her story appeared in news media and in her book, Audacity to Believe. She stood up for her Christian values.

Later life

After a period of recovery from the physical and psychological effects of her ordeal (during which she briefly became a nun), Cassidy continued to practise in 1982, she became Medical Director of the new St Luke's Hospice in Plymouth, a position which she held for 15 years. She then went on to set up a palliative care service for the Plymouth hospitals.

Cassidy has written a number of books on Christian subjects and has been involved with a number of charitable organisations such as patronage of The Prison Phoenix Trust. In her book "Confessions of a Lapsed Catholic" she outlines her reasons that caused her to witdraw her allegiance from the Roman Catholic Church.

Sheila Cassidy now has a Form named after her in St Joseph's Catholic & Anglican High School, Wrexham

See also

• Chilean coup of 1973

External links

• Brief biography and photo of Sheila Cassidy.