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What a great story.
The compassion and care Mark Witcher received as a patient 10 years ago inspired him to become a doctor.
At 24, he was diagnosed with a rare illness of the retina that left him blind for two months. Once he healed, the Atlanta environmental planner began preparing to enter graduate school at the Medical College of Georgia.
"My physicians treated me more like a person than a patient with this illness," he said. "I felt like I needed to give back and show that same compassion."
Carol Nichols, an MCG anatomy professor, said he has.
She and two other professors nominated him for the John F. Beard Award for Compassionate Care for his efforts to emulate the care that saved his life.
He was presented with the $25,000 award at MCG's graduation Friday at James Brown Arena. He was one of five graduating students nominated for the award, which was created by Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Billy Payne in honor of his father-in-law.
"Mark is unbelievably talented, empathetic and compassionate," Dr. Nichols said. "He quite literally changed my life just by addressing a problem I had."
Dr. Witcher, a former student of Dr. Nichols, told her about a surgery he saw performed on a child with cerebral palsy. Dr. Nichols was born with the condition.
"The surgeon told him it couldn't be performed on adults, but he didn't accept that," she said. "He researched. He took what he learned and moved forward."
She discovered that a surgeon in St. Louis was the only American doctor who could perform the procedure. In 2005, Dr. Nichols went into surgery and emerged with better balance, flexibility and freedom from the physical pain she had endured most of her life.
"He thought of me. He visited with me, and helped me with physical therapy," Dr. Nichols said. "I think his own experience gave him a perspective that most doctors don't have."
Dr. Witcher said he is honored by the Beard Award, but he attributes his success as an MD/PhD student to those around him.
"It's nothing I've done," he said. "I just had really good people around me -- my wife, my family, my teachers."
Dr. Witcher; his wife, Catherine; and their three children will move this summer to Wake Forest, N.C., where he will begin his residency in neurosurgery.
Dr. Nichols is certain she will not be the last patient he transforms.
"It's a blessing to have gotten to know him. I have a better quality of life because of him," she said. "I know he will go on to bless many more lives."
Reach Stephanie Toone at (706) 823-3215 or stephanie.toone@augustachronicle.com.
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