Alejandra Mendez, Vice President of Childhood Cancer International, shared on LinkedIn:
“There are encounters that leave a mark on us forever. And there are moments when words are simply not enough to express everything we feel.
A few months ago, through one of those coincidences that somehow do not feel like coincidences at all, I met the person who saved my son’s life.
Literally.
During a conference dinner, I happened to sit next to a very kind physician. We began talking, and he told me that he was a specialist – a true world-renowned expert – in kidney cancer.
As we spoke, we began connecting the pieces of a story that had taken place 20 years earlier. Little by little, we realized that he had played a fundamental role in the treatment plan that saved Pablo’s life.
Then, visibly moved, he said to me: ‘Your son was Patient Number 8 in my paper.’
Patient Number 8.
For science, a number in a scientific publication. For us, our son, our brother, our entire world.
He had never known his name. He had never seen his face. He did not know who Pablo was or the person he had become. And yet, his knowledge, vision, and dedication made it possible for Pablo to be alive today.
Because when a doctor saves the life of a child, they do not save only one life. They also save the lives of the parents, the siblings, and an entire family that, in the midst of darkness, is able to find light again.
Life gave us the extraordinary gift of allowing Pablo to embrace and personally thank the person who had played such a crucial role in his story, without ever having known him. That embrace still moves me deeply whenever I remember it.
Today, Pablo is a healthy and happy man. He has an extraordinary capacity to love, understand, and bring hope to others. All of this was made possible because, many years ago, someone dedicated his talent and his life to finding a better answer for patients like him.
We often speak about research, treatment protocols, scientific publications, and medical advances. But behind every piece of data, there is a person. Behind every ‘Patient Number 8,’ there is a life, a family, dreams, embraces, and an entire future that was given the chance to continue.
We will never find enough words to thank Dr. Jeffrey Dome.
We can only tell him that his work went far beyond the pages of a scientific publication. It reached our family, restored our hope, and changed the course of our lives forever.
Thank you for saving my son.
Thank you for saving our entire family along with him.”
Other posts featuring Alejandra Mendez on OncoDaily.