An Apostle to Physicians
by Melanie Hemry
Dr. Avery Jackson adjusted the bright light illuminating the surgical site. Peering into the wound, he stitched careful sutures. The soft clinking of instruments, and muffled words behind masks, were as familiar as a ticking clock. A senior resident in surgery, Jackson was being even more meticulous than usual. This patient had a severe case of HIV.
Pausing for a moment, Jackson took a deep breath. He wished the attending physician would stop rushing him. He didn’t rush surgery on anyone. Certainly not on a patient suffering from an often-fatal communicable disease.
Jackson felt as comfortable in surgery as most people feel having a cup of coffee at breakfast. Surgeon was the profession he had chosen. Or rather, it was the profession chosen for him. He’d been a child in first grade when his grandmother suffered a stroke. Asking what was wrong with her, he was told that there was a problem with her brain.
Desperately wanting to help his grandmother, young Avery had prayed, “God, show me how to help people with brain problems.”
A year later, when Avery was in second grade, God spoke to him.
'You’re going to be a neurosurgeon.'
As an 8-year-old, Avery had never heard the word neurosurgeon. When he looked it up in the dictionary, he quickly decided, OK, I’ll do that.
One day at school, Avery proudly told his teachers: “I’m going to be a neurosurgeon when I grow up.”
BVOV : 13
