For whom the American dream came true
From the Blog PkColumnist.com: For whom the American dream came true - One night, many years ago, Dr Leon Smith got a phone call from a very worried man. "My wife and the mother of my children is seriously sick and nobody knows what's wrong with her. Can you take a look at her?" requested the caller. Dr Smith said he'd be over right away. "You mean just now?" asked the surprised caller, wondering if he had heard the doctor right. It was late, after all. Half an hour later, the doctor arrived. The patient was diagnosed with an infectious disease, which if not treated in time could have been fatal. The caller was Senator Frank Lautenberg, America's oldest sitting senator. He will have served the US for 30 full years when he retires in 2012. He has a train station named after him in New Jersey, a unique honour for a living lawmaker. America is not given to naming its buildings and roads after living legends. Such honours are the exclusive preserve of presidents who died years and years ago. As Lautenberg, 86, stood at the podium to honour his longtime friend Leon Smith and to thank him for saving the life of "my wife and the mother of my children", last week, he drew a parallel between himself and Smith. "Like Leon, I am the son of immigrant parents. I too lost my father at an early age. My mother had to work to help raise me and my sister," he said. "But that's where the similarity ends. I was not as bright as Leon who is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Georgetown Medical School, later completing post-doctoral fellowships at Yale and Harvard," added the senator modestly. Earlier Leon Smith, 84, talked about his parents who had arrived from Lebanon. "My father died very young and my mother and sisters worked to put me through medical school," he said. "My father should not have died so young… I was determined to become a doctor and save lives when I grew up." The phrase 'Only in America' has a special meaning for Senator Frank Lautenberg and Dr Leon Smith. While Lautenberg, son of Polish and Russian immigrants had to work nights and weekends to attend school, Leon Smith specialised in infectious diseases and served inner city hospitals to save the lives of the poor too sick to pay for treatment. Both the men stood tall that night, before a crowd of over 1,000 New Jersey glitterati to talk of how they had realised the "American Dream." Billed as the 'Inaugural Gala' benefitting the Smith Infectious Diseases Foundation, established more than 20 years ago, the audience was mesmerised by the magic touch of Leon Smith as we watched and heard testimony after testimony of patients who said they owed their lives to the doctor. "He healed us," said all. They were ordinary Americans, mostly poor. Smith had so much talent that he could have become a millionaire, instead he chose to serve the poor in inner cities, people who don't stand a chance of survival when hit by a deadly disease. Peggy, his longtime wife and Leon established the first free medical clinic in Newark, New Jersey, an area mostly inhabited by African-Americans. The Foundation has funded ongoing research elsewhere and established the first viral diagnostic lab in New Jersey and one of the largest HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C clinics in the US. Voted by his peers as one of the "best doctors in America," Leon Smith, in his 40 years of service, has dedicated his life to diagnosing and treating people and at the same time looking for breakthroughs to prevent the spread of deadly illnesses. "I have five children. Four out of them are doctors. And I am the proud grandfather of 15 grandchildren, the eldest of whom, is standing before you. She has been accepted at the medical school at Georgetown, my alma mater, next year." Here are the takeaways, lessons learnt, as Americans like to call it, that I carried with me after coming home that night: Nowhere but in America can a son/daughter of a blue colour worker dream of becoming a famous senator or a famous doctor; nowhere but in America can a son/daughter of illiterate immigrants make it to Ivy League schools; nowhere but in America can a person, born and bred elsewhere, be provided equal opportunity to rise and rise; nowhere but in America can people in their 80s still hold important jobs and do exciting research; nowhere but in America do people think of giving back to the community if they have achieved success and wealth; nowhere but in America do people leave behind a legacy worth emulating. Indeed, for some the American Dream does come true. But not without hard work. Of course, there will be exceptions to report from other countries, but hey, there are exceptions only. . Read Full Post
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Jumo; Social Network For Social Good Launched By Facebook...
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