David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

the drugs. I had to mix them. I had to
inject them. I had to do the blood counts.
I had to measure the bleeding. I had to
do the bone marrows. I had to count the
slides.” There were thirteen children in
the initial round of the trial. The first
was a young girl. Freireich started her
off with a dose that turned out to be too
high, and she almost died. He sat with
her for hours. He kept her going with
antibiotics and respirators. She pulled
through, only to die later when her
cancer returned. But Frei and Freireich
were learning. They tinkered with the
protocol and moved on to patient number
two. Her name was Janice. She
recovered, as did the next child and the
next child. It was a start.