Random Scatterings

If you’re from the Baltimore area you’re familiar with the name Ben Carson. Of course you’d see Doctor in front of it.

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story is the biography of Dr. Ben Carson, Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. While the book is small and doesn’t look like it would contain much, don’t be fooled. When I first picked the book up I was a little surprised at how thin it was but once I started reading I couldn’t believe how much information was packed into it. The book starts with his early years and with his mother leaving his father. He would later find out that his father actually had another family and once his mother found out, she left him. Over the years his mother instilled in him that you can do whatever you put your mind to. Even though she barely had any education, she made sure her sons did. They were only allowed to watch an hour or so of TV and had to read a new book every week. She explained that in the homes of the people she cleaned for, their children weren’t plopped in front of the TV. They were reading and learning. Education wasn’t something just for the rich and well off.

The book then nicely works it’s way into his school days and into his college career. Dr. Carson opens up about his anger management issues including the time he almost stabbed a friend. If it wasn’t for the fact the knife hit the friends belt buckle, who knows where Carson or his friend would be today. He also goes into how religion and prayer help him with his job and life. He mentions a few times that while in the middle of a surgery he’d ask God for help and guidance. Of course he talks about how he met the love of his life, his wife, Candy and the 22 hour surgery he took part in to seperate the seven month old Rausch twins who were joined at the back of the head.

If you’re looking for a book that will inspire you you’ve found it. It’s really an amazing story about how a young boy from the inner city of Detriot was able to overcome many odds and become the world renown surgeon that he is today.

On February 7th 2009, Lifetime aired “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story” which starred Cuba Gooding Jr as Dr. Ben Carson.