Teen owed his life to doctor who refused to give up on him. He grew up to become a doctor but never dreamed he'd work alongside his savior
A teen from Ethiopia had little chance to live after he developed a heart condition because of his rheumatic fever. He went through multiple surgeries and had to eventually stay in the US to recover. At one point, he even told his doctor that he had tried his best and the man, Mesfin Yana Dollar, would consider it his fate if he had to die. Nonetheless, the doctor refused to give up on him and it served both of them well as the man performed heart surgeries side by side with his doctors later in life, per The Washington Post.
Mefsin was born in a small Ethiopian village back in 1985. He was happy in spite of the daily challenges his family and village had to face. But around age 10 or 11, he started getting really sick. Tribal medicine practitioners in the village and doctors in nearby cities couldn't find out the reason behind Mefsin's deteriorating condition. Eventually, he went to Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Ethiopia's capital city, Addis Ababa. "I saw this young, short White man with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. He was joking with the kids and joking with the patients," Mefsin said of Dr. Rick Hodes, who checked on him that day. Hodes was a doctor from America and checked on patients with spine issues and rheumatic diseases in Ethiopia.
He was able to identify Mefsin's condition after a series of heart and lung tests. Hodes told Mefsin that his heart condition was serious and that he would need to get surgery. "He showed up out of nowhere, diagnosed me and now he’s looking into surgery." A nonprofit, Children’s Cross Connection International, partially funded Mefsin's surgery that took place in Atlanta, USA, when he was 15 years old. Jim Kauten, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Piedmont Heart Institute, operated on the then-teen to treat his heart condition. The doctor had to repair Mefsin's mitral valve, after which he stayed with a host family in the country. He also got his wisdom teeth removed there.
However, after he went back to Ethiopia, he developed an infection in his wisdom tooth area and was diagnosed with endocarditis. Hodes continued treating him, but all his efforts were in vain. "I told Dr. Rick, you know what, you did everything possible. This is the will of God and if I die, there’s no problem now." Hodes was not ready to give up. A cardiologist, Allen Dollar, replaced Mefsin's valve with an artificial one during his second surgery in Atlanta. As he would need monitoring, it wasn't possible for Mefsin to go back home. Dollar took him in and also gave Mefsin his surname officially. Mefsin studied hard to get into healthcare and eventually became a cardiac perfusionist. The man worked at the Texas Heart Institute before getting a job at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
Mefsin now works with patients suffering from heart conditions and runs the heart-lung machine during open-heart surgeries. Kauten and Mefsin started working alongside each other to help people in Ethiopia suffering from severe heart conditions. They do the surgeries with the help of the nonprofit Heart Attack Ethiopia. "That was especially nice in my mind. For him to be able to pay back to the community services that he received in the United States and he was able to pay it back in Ethiopia," Kauten remarked. The man also acted as an interpreter between patients in Ethiopia and the healthcare workers on his team. He also gave his time to people training to become perfusionists, per the outlet. At some point, Mefsin was able to help his parents and some of his siblings move to the US.