A Michigan man who fought for his life in 2007 has now become a doctor at the same hospital that saved his life nine years ago.
In an NBC News profile, Kevin Morton Jr. tells reporters about how he turned his tragic moment into a chance to help others. Almost a decade ago, the now 31-year-old was in the trauma unit at Detroit’s St. John Hospital, where Dr. Dharti Sheth-Zelmanski saved his life.
While getting off work at a Detroit Arby’s one night, Morton was approached by an armed robber who wanted to take his car. The thief shot Morton in the abdomen, and doctors only gave the then 22-year-old a 10 percent chance to live.
“The compassion and drive that Dr. Sheth has shown in trying to save my life … I just wanna pay that forward,” Morton told NBC News.
Last week, Morton graduated from Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine with high honors. Now the young doctor will start his residency at the same hospital that saved his life, according to the NBC News report.
“Whether we call it intuition, experience or a miracle … we put some extra sutures in and the bleeding stopped,” Sheth-Zelmanski recalled. “We knew he wasn’t going to give up and we weren’t gonna give up — so we had to make it happen.”
