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Sunday, Oct. 04, 2009

Giving him a leg to stand on

MARIETTA — This is the story of how three special people came together.

It is a story of faith and compassion. It is a story of hope.

The characters are two physicians and a 7-year-old Iraqi boy named “Babou.’’ It is the tale of a man who never gave up on his dream of becoming a doctor, a seasoned marathon runner and a child who could barely lift his foot to walk across the room.

It spans three generations, two cultures, almost 7,000 miles and 4 inches of a little boy’s left leg.

It is a story that has changed lives.

I don’t believe in coincidences. Albert Einstein once said coincidences are merely those times “when God chooses to remain anonymous.’’

So it was no coincidence that Dr. Bill Terrell was introduced to Dr. G.B. Espy this past January. Although they were both physicians practicing medicine just a few miles apart in Marietta, their paths had never crossed.

Terrell, 46, is an orthopedic surgeon who grew up in Macon.

Espy is still delivering babies and running in marathons at age 74.

A chance meeting? I think not.

No, I don’t really believe it was a coincidence that Espy, while out on one of his runs, fell and busted both of his knees. And that when he went for an appointment at Pinnacle Orthopedics, his regular doctor had been called out to see about a case at nearby Kennestone Hospital.

That’s how Espy ended up in Terrell’s office, where he couldn’t help but notice all the certificates on the wall. Terrell was well-traveled and well-trained in his field.

In fact, he was recognized as one of only 15 doctors in the world qualified to perform a special kind of deformity correction surgery and limb-lengthening known as Ilizarov, a technique developed by a Russian doctor.

Of course, not everyone has a need for that kind of specialized procedure.

But Espy knew a kid with a big smile who did. His name was named Mohammed Mustafa, and everybody called him “Babou.’’

Terrell saved Babou’s left leg.

Along the way, Babou stole Terrell’s heart.

He arrived special delivery, all 44 pounds and 45 inches of him. He had been fighting the fury of infections in his leg since he was 2 years old.

His leg was severely infected and 4 inches shorter than his right. He had surgery a dozen times back in Iraq, and the doctors there were prepared to amputate the leg at his hip.

Espy had traveled to Iraq for humanitarian work. He had learned about Babou through a missionary named Heather Mercer, who was there helping the Kurdish people of Iraq. With assistance from the First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Espy arranged to bring Babou and his father, Kader, to the U.S. from their village in northern Iraq.

At the time, Espy was unaware of a physician who could help Babou.

But he took a spill, and his unexpected tumble landed him in Terrell’s office.

He had found his man.

Hmmmm. A serendipitous twist of fate, maybe? Just another coincidence?

Terrell performed the five-hour surgery in June, cutting away the dead bone at both ends, then stabilizing Babou’s leg with a rod and special brace.

This week, Babou will begin the nine-month process of turning a screw on the brace with a wrench 1 millimeter each day to begin lengthening the bone. Over time, there are hopes it can be increased at least 3 inches. By next summer, maybe he won’t wobble any more. He and his father can return to Iraq and be reunited with his mother and three brothers.

Babou does not know how it feels to run and play with the other children.

Over the summer, the story caught the attention of a local newspaper in Marietta and an Atlanta television station.

Through all the media publicity, Terrell was quick to point out he stands on the shoulders of others.

He may have a degree in medicine, but he holds a PhD. in modesty. He also gave credit to the big boss upstairs.

“I shine from reflected light,’’ he said. “I have a lot of good people around me. One of my favorite quotations is what Ben Franklin wrote in ‘Poor Richard’s Almanac.’ God heals, and the doctor takes the fees.”

Terrell always wanted to be a doctor, and he received plenty of support from his parents, Dean and Nina Terrell, who still live in Macon, and sister, Ruth.

He wondered if it would ever happen, though.

When he was 15, he worked at Wansley’s Texaco Station at the corner of Vineville and Holt avenues. He pumped gas, checked oil and cleaned windshields.

One of his heroes was the late W.O. “Spike” Williams Jr., a Macon doctor who, for more than 50 years, organized father-son fishing trips to St. Marks, Fla., every spring.

Williams would bring his Chevy Blazer, one of the first SUVs in Macon, to the gas station, and Terrell developed a friendship with the good doctor.

“I admired him,’’ Terrell said. “He worked hard, played hard, loved what he did and helped other people.’’

As a teenager, Terrell coveted a job working at The Medical Center of Central Georgia but was convinced most of those jobs “went to doctor’s kids.” Although his father was a pharmaceutical salesman, that apparently didn’t qualify.

After he was not hired, he asked when he could reapply for the next year. He marked his calendar for Dec. 9 at 9 a.m. and showed up at 6 a.m. After completing another application, he wandered around outside the hospital. A man stopped to see if he was lost. “Who are you looking for?’’ the man asked.

“I’ll know him when I see him,’’ said Terrell.

The man was the late Lamar Taylor, who was an administrator with the hospital. It wasn’t long before Terrell had a job scrubbing floors in the operating room.

He worked his way through the ranks, doing whatever tasks he was told to do whenever he was told to do it. He often had a front-row seat observing doctors, nurses and other medical staff members. He was drawn to those who were passionate about their work.

He affirmed his life’s calling when he was moved to the orthopedic operating room. The action didn’t move nearly as quickly as it did in the emergency room, but he was fascinated with the premise.

“They didn’t just treat people,’’ he said. “They fixed them.’’

He now tells other orthopedists he is not competing with them. In fact, he doesn’t mind taking their worst cases.

Still an avid car enthusiast, he often talks in automotive terms. He wants them to send him their wrecks.

That is why his workload is among the most challenging. And he considers Babou’s situation one of the “most severe I’ve ever seen.’’

By spring, he hopes Babou will be able to return home. He would give anything to watch him greet his mother on two good legs.

Just another coincidence, I guess.

Reach Gris @744-4275 or gris@macon.com.