A suturing apparatus (210) comprises a pair of jaws (220,222). A bendable needle (224) housed in one of the jaws is adapted to carry a suture. The first jaw defines an ingress (228) and the second jaw is movable with respect to the first jaw. A bendable needle (224) is carried by the first jaw and is movable between a proximal and a distal position. The needle defines a needle slot (235) that may be aligned with the ingress to enable loading of a suture through the ingress into the needle slot.
