A Canadian neurosurgeon performed a career first after his young patient asked for a special favor prior to his operation.
Heading into the hospital for surgery can be a scary event at any age. But for Jackson McKie, an eight-year-old living with a cyst on his brain and a chronic condition called hydrocephalus, hospital visits are common place.
Like most kids his age, Jackson brought his favorite teddy bear into the operating room with him, and when he asked his doctor, Daniel McNeely to stitch up his arm, the neurosurgeon couldn't say no.
“I thought if there was something I could do to help make him feel better, it seemed like a simple gesture and I was only too happy to oblige,” McNeely said Tuesday.
The doctor asked his team to prepare a table with some tools for the job, he then used leftover stitches from McKie's procedure to fix up the bear.
“He’s one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met,” Jackson’s father, Rick McKie, said of McNeely on Tuesday.
His father continues to say that Jackson was thrilled when he woke from his surgery to find his beloved bear, Little Baby, had been fixed up by McNeely, just like he had been.
“I thought it might make a few people smile, that was the only intention I had,” said McNeely on the virality of his actions. “I’m glad that others are enjoying it.”
As of Thursday morning, McNeely's first-ever tweet had been retweeted more than 13K times and commented on by people all over the world who were just as touched as McKie, Little Baby, and his family.
Dr. Daniel McNeely's act of kindness is a heartwarming example of what healthcare professionals can do to brighten their patients lives in non-medical ways.
