This is why we must encourage young people.
Lee Buono is a brain surgeon. An astonishingly good one. And he owes his start to the encouragement of a science teacher known as “Mr. Sie” -aka Albert Siedlecki. Following a operation when he gave a judge the power to speak again, the judge told him to call the person who had made him become a brain surgeon – to thank them.
Which made Lee think of his teacher in Middle School.
Lee recalled how he had to dissect a frog in Mr. Sie’s class. After he removed the brain and spinal cord, Mr. Sie complimented his skill and said it was the best dissection he’d ever seen. Lee explained:
“He said to me, ‘You’ve got the hands of a surgeon, you’re smart, bright boy, and you could be a surgeon, you could be a brain surgeon if you wanted to.'”
Lee was only 13 years old, but encouragement from a man whom he greatly respected altered the course of his life. It was at that moment that he realized he wanted to be a brain surgeon.
Watch the video.
When Lee returned to Memorial Middle School to thank Mr. Sie in person the teacher gave him a special gift — the very same frog brain and spinal cord that Lee had dissected so many years ago.
Mr. Sie had kept the project and had it mounted on a plaque to give to his former student.