People

How can someone so remarkable and talented, a man who has defied such fierce odds, be calm, down-to-earth, and funny? How can Dr. Carson be so nice?

This is, after all, no mere mortal.

The world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon’s curriculum vitae is 73 pages long and describes far more than his high-profile medical accomplishments helping children overcome life-threatening illnesses and conditions like brain tumors and seizures. The highly regarded motivational speaker, who has inspired countless children and adults, has been named among CNN and TIME magazine’s 20 foremost physicians and scientists; received countless awards and honors; and is a Library of Congress “Living Legend.” This 2006 recipient of the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal even holds the keys to seven cities (including Salisbury).

Carson has authored hundreds of articles and abstracts, medical books, and even three bestsellers. (His fourth book, another likely hit, was published this year.) He holds more than 50 honorary degrees and sits on the boards of the Kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Yale Corporation, and America's Promise, among others. He has given away millions of his own money and created charities to help young scholars and the underinsured and uninsured. Carson helped put Johns Hopkins University (JHU) on the map for pediatric neurosurgery.

This year, the man received both the Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, for heaven’s sake.

I assume Carson will glow from within or at least angelically glide into the room.

Instead, the bespectacled Carson, wearing blue scrubs and white tennis shoes, calmly weaves his way through the knee-high stacks of magazines and books in his cramped office, located at the hectic JHU Hospital, to say hello. Although greying at the temples, he exudes youth.

Dr. Ben Carson is unassuming, forthright, and somewhat blunt. He speaks to everyone politely and kindly. But perhaps it is his unaffected and unpretentious manner that makes him so special.

Our honoree, this year’s Marylander of Distinction, is distinctly human.

*****

Born in Michigan in 1951, Dr. Carson has humbled our state with his greatness since he came to JHU as a resident in 1977.

By 1982, Carson was chief resident and fellow in neurological surgery at JHU’s School of Medicine and Hospital. By 1984, after spending a year abroad in Australia as senior registrar in neurosurgery, he returned to JHU to become the nation's youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery (as well as co-director of neurosurgical oncology and assistant professor of oncology and neurological surgery).

Thrust into the spotlight in 1987 for leading a huge medical team that successfully separated Siamese twins joined at the back of the head during a 22-hour surgery, Dr. Carson has also pioneered brain surgery to help control seizures in infants and has demonstrated vast success with adults suffering from trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The condition causes such severe facial pain that it is called the “suicide disease” since many adults choose to end their lives rather than live with this level of anguish.

His incredible achievements seem even more awesome since Carson’s beginnings were rather dicey.

Born to a young mother in inner-city Detroit, Carson and his older brother, Curtis, grew up amid poverty, crime, and violence.

At the age of 8, about the time his parents divorced, Carson began thinking he’d like to be a missionary doctor. “I loved listening to stories in church, and it seemed like missionaries were the most noble people in the world,” says Carson. “They made these great sacrifices, and I thought, ‘Wow, could there be anything greater than that?’”

His career wishes, however, weren’t supported by his grades. He was considered the “classroom dummy.” Carson’s mother, Sonya, determined to help her boys succeed, forced both of them to read and write reports, though she herself was illiterate. (She pretended to read, however, and check their work.) Fortunately, the more Carson read, the more he learned. In a short period of time, he went from last in his class to the top. He never came down again.