Ben Carson

Ben Carson. A husband, father, neurosurgeon and a hero. On September 18th,1951, Benjamin Solomon Carson was born to Sonya and Robert Carson. Ben was only 8 and his brother was only 10 when their parents divorced. I'm writing this essay because he's courageous and wanted to make a difference. I bring to you, the story of Ben Carson.

In elementary school, Ben was falling behind with his grades. His mother was very focused on her son's education. She limited his T.V time and had him read two library books a week to give her a report on. Ben didn't like this at first, but later on instead of watching T.V he used his imagination. In high school, his grades improved greatly. He was at the top of the class and ended up going to Yale University and later on he became a neurosurgeon and a German couple became interested in his work. The couple came to his office and they discussed the separation of their crainiopagus twins, both 7 months old. Ben Carson did some research and found a way to successfully complete the surgery, hypothermic arrest. The surgery took place in 1987, September 4th. During the surgery Ben had 70 doctors and nurses to assist him. After 22 hours the surgery was complete and both children, Patrick and Benjamin Binder, were alive.

In 1994, Ben travelled to South Africa to perform surgery on the Makwaeba twins. Due to complications in the surgery, they both died and Ben was devastated. A few years later, in 1997, Ben travelled back to South Africa to perform the same surgery on Luka and Joseph Banda. It was a 28 hour operation and was successfully completed.

In 2003, Ben faced his toughest challenge of all. Separating two 29 year old, adult conjoined twins. Laden and Laleh Binjani were confident in Ben. Ben wasn't sure that the surgery would work out and he was very clear of all the risks, but the girls insisted. On July 6,2003, the 52 hour operation began. He had 100 doctors and nurses with him but sadly due to Laden and Laleh both sharing a major vein in their brain, Laden died during surgery. A couple days later, Laleh also died.

Today, Ben Carson is 63 and is married to Lacrena Rustin. They also have three kids, Murray, Benjamin and Rhoeyce. Ben has also successfully conquered his prostate cancer and was awarded over 50 honorary degrees! He was courageous in the most difficult of times and wasn't afraid to take a chance. He's no Batman, but he's still a hero to me.