Thousands of surgeries are conducted every day. While each surgery is of great importance to the patient and their family and friends, rarely does the story of a surgery have newsworthy significance for people in general.
A simple gesture at the hands of Halifax surgeon Daniel McNeely turned the surgery of Jackson McKie, 8, of Summerside, P.E.I., from a fairly routine shunt repair to a heartwarming story for people to be inspired by and shared with their loved ones.
Jackson, who has hydrocephalus, was suffering from bad headaches and the operation was recommended. He brought along his teddy bear, whose name is ‘Little Baby,’ so named after the bear was given to the family when they went to get an ultrasound to find out the sex of their baby.
“It’s his best buddy,” said his father, Rick McKie. “When he was born, he had it ever since with him. Through thick or thin.”
Higher Purpose
What is interesting here, though, is that Jackson did not simply bring Little Baby to his surgery in order for his best buddy to keep him company. He was aware that the teddy bear had a tear under his arm, and must have figured that if the surgeon could help him (Jackson) feel better, he might be able to do the same for Little Baby.
And so, just before he was to undergo surgery, Jackson asked the doctor whether he could heal his teddy bear as well. The doctor’s tweet that follows, which has already been retweeted over 10,000 times, illustrates Dr. McNeely’s response:
Patient asks if I can also fix teddy bear just before being put off to sleep… how could I say no? pic.twitter.com/WOKFc5zr91
— P. Daniel McNeely (@pdmcneely) September 30, 2018
“There’s always a few stitches that are left over from the case itself and they normally get disposed of,” said the physician, who got to work on Little Baby as soon as Jackson was stitched up, making sure to give the bear “oxygen” and monitor his vitals.
Nice Awakening
According to this CBC report, both Jackson and his father were deeply moved to see the teddy bear all healed:
When Jackson woke up, he was over the moon, said his father. “He was so proud. He had Little Baby laying up in the hospital bed with him and everything.”
McKie said he was amazed and thankful that the surgeon went out of his way to grant Jackson’s request.”It made us feel better about being there.”
McNeely was happy to reunite the boy with his stuffed animal, and said the small gesture was one example of how healthcare providers can care and comfort their patients in non-medical ways.
The Takeaway
In the course of performing our daily duties and doing what is expected of us, we often don’t take the opportunity to do a little something extra to make a person’s day. But sometimes that little something extra turns out to be the most important thing of all.
