Rarely do you come across a real life version of It's a Wonderful Life. But here it goes. My little brother, Dr. Eric Bettag, a surgeon with a cult following, was injured, paralyzed, in a car accident a little over two years ago when some 18 year old kid, dropped his compact discs under the dash board on the passenger's side of his picku up truck and blew through a red light while retreiving the discs. The result.... Dr. Bettag gets T-boned and gets airlifted to a specialty hospital to deal with severe trauma victims. Cracked vertebrae and instant paraylsis for an active community member and married father of 5. Life changes quickly and Eric had his world rocked.
Image provided by Flickr
Eric could move his arms like you and I, but the fine motor skills of his hands are gone. Everything from the arms on down were shot.
- He'll never walk again....he was told.
- He'll never run again.
- He'll never practice medicine again.
- He'll never.
- He'll never...
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He'll never........blah, blah, blah
He Will and He is!!!!!
It really was a pain for him to just exist for quite a while. Although he was paralyzed, I remember the tears. He was the jock of the family nicknamed "Rock." Here he was instead of working on others, he was the involuntary patient. Days became weeks and weeks became months and months became the past almost three years. Though paralyzed, Eric experienced pain that I could try to imagine. I knew when I saw him in the bed that I would never be able to contemplate that pain.
Dr. Bettag is now walking. The doctors and the therapists said they've never seen determination and persistence like they saw in him. He does walk the way that you and I walk, but walking nonetheless. They said he'd never walk again, but he is. Hours every day. He has a lot of reasons to persist when others would throw in the towel. Sure, he had his moments, but in life, there are players and pretenders. Pretenders say all the right things but do nothing. Players deliver. That's flat out the truth. There might not be a lot of words, but delivery happens on the field. Ever since Eric was a kid, the 3 brothers called him "Rock." Eric, a/k/a "Rock" is a Player.
Oh....the reasons...
- God has just incredible purpose for Eric. He's the only Doctor that I've ever met who has a fan club. It's ridiculous the cult following that Eric had, but I'm sure that it's because of the time that he spent truly caring for each of his patients.
- His Wife Joan - She's been the bastian of hope for him. "Rock" has his Rock and Joan is the Rock that kept Eric going during the moments of doubt and challenges;
- His 5 kids - The oldest is a Freshman in High School and the youngest is only 5. His children need a rock star and every kid needs a dad who's really a dad. Rock's that dad.
- His parents - His parents have been around him throughout every step of the process.
- His siblings - Needless to say, Eric is the hysterical quip that all 4 of his siblings and their spouses love. Sometimes he stirs the pot, but mostly he stirs for laughs.
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His Patients - I already said that it's riduculous to me, a mortgage banker and an attorney, to see the following that a doctor can have.
Soooooooooooooo Today I'm thankful. I'm thankful because Dr. Eric Bettag had his first day back in the medical practice AS A DOCTOR.
It's his first day of practice since that accident over two years ago!
Eric is back in business. He is easing back to a great schedule. He's improving the lives of those whom he comes into contact with. Sure, he's not doing surgery per se, but he's learned how to do certain procedures and is a determined as can be to be the best version of himself that he can be. For that I'm grateful. What's even better is that he will postively influence the lives of those people he comes into contact with.....Now as a practicing doctor.
"Rock", his wife, and 5 kids are coming to my house for Thanksgiving. I should say "To Celebrate Thanksgiving. I know this year is a year where a lot of celebrating will be going on.
If you need a Podiatrist who cares, make an appointment with Dr. Eric Bettag in Saint Charles, Illinois. His number is 630-584-4200. Make an appointment while you can. He's really the best of the best and his schedule will be full very shortly.
We've had our brother back for quite some time now. Now the community gets a great doctor back too.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ROCK....YOU DA MAN!
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