Doctor Gives Blood

Doctor Gives Blood

Dr. Samuel Weinstein is the chief of pediatric
cardio-thoracic surgery for the Children's Hospital at
Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York. In
May of 2006, he traveled to El Salvador with Heart Care
International in order to provide life-saving
operations for less-fortunate children. However, it
would take more than his expertise and advanced
equipment to save the life of 8-year-old Francisco
Calderon Anthony Fernandez.

Dr. Weinstein and his team began operating on
Francisco's heart shortly before noon. Twelve hours
later, the procedure took a deadly turn. "The surgery
had been going well, everything was working great, but
he was bleeding a lot and they didn't have a lot of the
medicines we would use to stop the bleeding," Weinstein
said. "After a while, they said they couldn't give him
blood because they were running out and he had a rare
type.'' In fact, Francisco's blood type was B-negative,
which--according to the American Red Cross--is present
in only two percent of the population.

As it was, the only other person in the room with a
blood type of B-negative was Dr. Weinstein. Knowing
what he had to do, he stepped down from the operating
table. As his colleagues continued their precision
work, Dr. Weinstein set aside his scalpel, took off his
gloves, and began washing his hands and forearm. Then,
in the corner of an unfamiliar operating room, the
prestigious doctor from one of the most advanced
hospitals in the world sat down to give away his own
blood.

When he had given his pint, Dr. Weinstein drank some
bottled water and ate a Pop-Tart. Then--20 minutes
after stepping away from the table--he rejoined his
colleagues. After watching his own blood begin
circulating into the boy's small veins, Dr. Weinstein
completed the operation that saved Francisco's
heart--and his life.1

Ed. Note: A good illustration of what Jesus did for you
and me when he gave his life on the cross of Calvary to
pay the ultimate penalty for mankind's sins--the
shedding and giving of his own blood.

1. Jim Fitzgerald, "Doc Stops Surgery to Give Own Blood
to Patient,"
http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/ap_060526_doc_blood.html.
Cited on WITandWISDOM(tm) http://www.witandwisdom.org