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Dr. Leonard H. McCoy

Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise

Friday June 11th, 1999, DeForest Kelley (Leonard McCoy) passed away.

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Early history

Leonard was born in the southern region of the United States to Caroline and Harrison McCoy. He had a normal happy childhood until his father was lost in space with the USS Yorktouwn. His mother, apparently, became desperately unhappy after this event. She died relatively soon after and young Leonard was brought up by his paternal grandfather, T.J. Leonard was strongly influenced in his choice to become a medic by T.J. who was a physician.(James van Hise)

Leonard's father was found many years later, when Leonard was already a practicing doctor. His father, however, was suffering from a crippling disease for which no known cure existed. Leonard was taking care of his father himself (ethics?). When the suffering became too great his father begged him to switch of the life support and let him die in peace. After much soul searching, Leonard did as his father requested although he found it very difficult to do so. This decision was made much worse when 6 months later a drug to combat the disease was developed on Altair VI. The whole event had lasting influence on the young McCoy (ST-V)

Romantic life

Leonard's first serious relationship was with Nancy (Crater). She used to call him Plum. However, Nancy fell in love with an older man, a professor of Archeology - Crater - and married him. She accompanied Prof. Crater on his archeological digs across the galaxy. Leonard McCoy was destined to see her once more when a salt-eating being took the form of Nancy to enable it access to human body-salt. (TOS??)

Leonard McCoy did marry and had a daughter, Joanna. The couple divorced, however, and Leonard McCoy joined Star Fleet.

The Enterprise

Leonard McCoy joined the Enterprise as Chief Medical Officer.
Soon after he joined he became an integral part of the Triumvirate with James Kirk and Spock. (Some sources say that McCoy and Kirk knew each other before he joined the Enterprise: e.g. The first adventure by Vonda McIntyre).
McCoy became a close friend to James Kirk, who gave Leonard the nickname "Bones". Also a fast friendship developed between McCoy and the first officer, Spock, which was most often expressed by their continuous but friendly arguments, especially concerning "Logic versus Emotion".

Medical Feats

Leonard McCoy, although a great physician and healer is also a scientist and these three factors make a great doctor who will always try anything to save a patients life and who is always on the search for new and better ways of diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. McCoy has many outstanding publications to his name - all in well known Journals like the Earth-British Medical Society Journal, and the Universal Lancet to name but a few.
One such occasion, when all his courage and innovation was put to the test, was when he had to operate on a full Vulcan for the first time (Journey to Babel). Not on any Vulcan, but on Sarek, Ambassador of Vulcan and Spock's father. He had to perform cryogenic open-heart surgery to safe Sarek's life, with the additional complication of not having enough T-negative blood on board. In the end he used Spock as a donor of T-negative blood, after removing the human blood-factors and giving Spock a radical drug, developed and used only on Rigelians before, to increase the body's blood production. If this was not enough, all the operation was performed while the Enterprise was under attack. Yet he performed the surgery and both Spock and Sarek survive to this day.

More to come as time goes on

McCoy's Sayings