What Is A Hero? Sometimes He Is Also A Dentist
(Editor’s Note: Local dentist Jamie Mitchell, DMD, wrote the following article about Tom Brady, DDS, for the Ga. Dental Association magazine, and it is reprinted here with permission.)
By JAMIE MITCHELL
What characteristics or qualities make a person a hero? Is there a hero gene that makes it instinctive, or perhaps it’s a learned response. According to a recent study, the answer might rest in what type of heroism we are addressing.
Heroes come in all shapes, sizes, ages, races and walks of life. I think we can all agree that there are distinctive traits that a hero exemplifies. The list would include Bravery—possessing or exhibiting courage; Conviction—having a firm belief; Determination—the act of coming to a decision; Helpfulness—lending aid or assistance; Honesty—being honorable in intentions; Inspirational—exalting influence; Integrity—having moral and ethical principles; Selflessness—putting others ahead of oneself; and Strength—having the ability to show great power.
My initial thoughts about heroes are all the men and women who serve or have served in the military. I would include police, fire fighters, first responders and all medical personnel. If there is such a thing as a “hero gene,” I think these individuals personify that theory.
On a national scale, we see heroes on television or in the news. In our communities we may hear of someone who has shown acts of heroism, but may not know them personally. Then there are those special people, perhaps a relative or friend with which we have a rapport, who have committed extraordinary acts of bravery. Thirty years ago I met such a man.
I was early into my second semester of my senior year in dental school and anxious about my lack of prospects for employment following graduation, when a close friend put me in contact with his hometown dentist. After a brief phone conversation, we agreed to meet the next weekend.
My wife Suzy and I traveled from Charleston, S.C. to Monticello, Ga., a trip that would forever change our lives, for the better.
We arrived at his dental office early Saturday morning to find the most kind, humble fellow you could ever encounter. He wasn’t very tall and he walked with a limp, which I thought was interesting considering the physical demands of dentistry.
After four hours of rapt conversation, Suzy with her southern charm found a way to tactfully cut to the chase and asked what his future intentions were for his practice. As he responded with a resounding “I really don’t know,” my heart sunk a bit as I had felt such an immediate bond to this practice and practitioner.
As we said our goodbyes, he promised to be in touch in a couple of weeks. Of course everything worked out. Following graduation and successfully passing the Georgia Dental Board exam, I purchased the practice.
Several years later as I was leaving our local bank board of trustees meeting, I was stopped by a close friend of the selling dentist. This is what he shared with me about the kind, humble man with the limp.
As a nine-year-old child, born in 1936 in a small rural town in Tennessee, he broke one of his hips not once, but twice and was diagnosed with osteomyelitis. Without the benefit of modern day antibiotics, there was little to be done for the affliction. The treatment of choice was to place the child in a body cast from the waist down to immobilize the affected leg.
Over the next 18 months the doctors considered surgery at least four times, but always opted to continue with the body cast. Even when he was not in a cast, he was bedridden for many years and was told that he would never walk again. It’s impossible to imagine this horrific ordeal for a young boy from Tennessee whose parents scraped out a living as proprietors of a small general store. Going to school was out of the question so his mother continued his studies at home, doing her best to prepare him for the future.
Miraculously, the infection cleared but left this young boy with a fused hip that would render him with a leg nearly three inches shorter than the other one. As life just began to look up, he had an accident in his father’s store and broke his good leg and was back in a cast for three more months! What a devastating setback!
With strength, determination and an amazing mother, he managed to graduate from high school as Salutatorian of his class and was accepted into the University of Tennessee’s pre-dental program, where he worked his way through school. He finally made it to dental school, but after his first year he contracted tuberculosis. What a huge blow! A lesser man would have given up right then and there, but not this guy. He stayed in the TB ward for over nine months where they fattened him up to over 200 pounds and removed 2/3 of one lung.
If you ask him, he would say it was the best thing that ever happened, as he met the love of his life. After returning to dental school and completing his studies, he and his wife Betty moved to Augusta for two years, where he took a job working with disabled children at Gracewood Home for Children. For nearly two years he helped these unfortunate kids with their dental needs before hanging a shingle of his own in Monticello in 1963.
Needless to say I was speechless, with my jaw hanging. I had no idea what this kind, gentle, humble man had endured. Not only was he a survivor of multiple physical ailments, he was one of the best damn dentists I have ever seen in my 30 years of practice.
He’s been an inspiration to countless individuals and I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him for over six years and witness first hand all the hero qualities that he embodies.
Am I blessed man? Without a doubt I have been blessed far beyond what I deserve and I would suspect all of us in this profession could say the same. And if you asked this man that question, he would warmly smile and humbly say “amen.”
Each of us should be fortunate enough to have a person like this in our life, but more importantly, we should strive to be this person in the eyes of others.
I am thankful to have had the opportunity to share with you this story about the best mentor, bonus father, friend, and…HERO anyone could ever hope to have, Dr. Tom Brady! And I’d bet my last dollar that he has the hero gene.
