A Memorial

A Memorial

Over the years, I have encountered many remarkable physicians. Some of those are no longer with us. I find those that died at a relatively young age particularly tragic. Here are my personal recollections of three such remarkable people that made an impact on me. The following stories are in chronological order of their deaths.

Marissa Jackson-Stone MD (died July 5^th, 1999 aged 35)

It was in 1996, and I was a second year resident in Internal Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. I was assigned to a new attending physician that had just joined our faculty. She had left a promising career in the Pharmaceutical industry in Michigan to move to North Carolina following her husband. Her husband was a rehabilitation physician who had taken up a job in the nearby small town of Tarboro.

They had two small daughters and were very devoted parents. Marissa was a very academic and smart person. I learnt so much from her in that month. I also got to know her husband. They were a beautiful family.

A few months after my rotation, I learnt that Marissa had left her husband. They went through a divorce and Marissa decided to move back to Michigan. A judge had given her full custody of her daughters.

On July 5, 1999, Marissa went for a jog in the Fort Worth, Texas suburb of Southlake, where she and her daughters were visiting Marissa's now ex-husband's sister, with whom she was still good friends. Her husband had also taken a one way flight to Texas. He had written his will, leaving everything to his daughters and packed his gun. He then ambushed Marissa in the park and fatally shot her. Minutes later, he killed himself.

I still remember being deeply traumatized by this news. I hope her daughters are doing well today as they must be grown women now. I will always have fond memories of Marissa, a great teacher and a great person.

Prashant Priyarajan MD (died March 16^th, 2000 aged 29)

In 1994, I was studying for a Master’s in Public Health at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. I was working on an assignment at our library computer, when a handsome young South Asian man sat beside me and introduced himself. He told me that he was a medical student and he was from India.

I found this surprising as medical school in the United States is very expensive and usually out of the reach of foreign students. He told me that he was on a full scholarship as an MD/PhD student. Now I was very impressed. MD/PhD programs are extremely competitive and very difficult to get in, especially for a foreign student.

He asked me where I was from. I told him that I was born in Pakistan, but had grown up in Nigeria. He then asked me where my parents were from.

I answered that they were born in Bihar in North Eastern India and had migrated to Pakistan after the partition of the Indian sub-continent.

He then jumped up and said, I had a feeling you were from Bihar. He told me that he was also from a small town in Bihar. Despite my being born and brought up elsewhere as well as being a different religion (I was Muslim and he was Hindu), he considered me as his kinsman and we became very good friends.

In 1995, I left Birmingham to start a residency in North Carolina. He had requested to move into my apartment in my place as it was close to the medical school, and I happily obliged. As I got busy in my residency, I lost touch with him.

In 2001, I wanted to get back in touch with my friend and looked up his name online. I was shocked to see an Obituary notice. I was able to contact his brother in India by email. Apparently after completing his medical school, Prashant had started a residency. During his first year there, he was diagnosed with Leukemia and this subsequently took his life. He was just 29 years old.

I felt really sad at his passing, and I felt bad that I had not kept in touch with him. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to be his friend.

Terri Ann Loomis MD (died January 22^nd, 2003 aged 36)

It was 1995, and I was a new intern at East Carolina University. I was on call and was asked by the night float senior resident to come to the Emergency room to admit a patient. I was nervous as the senior resident was Terri Loomis.

She had a reputation as being a no nonsense and tough senior. She was a fourth year resident doing a combined residency in Medicine and Pediatrics. I was nervous. The patient was a sick patient with Diabetes and very high sugars.

She asked me if I could take care of this patient. I said I was not sure. She smiled and said, I will teach you. She spent quite a bit of time that night teaching me in detail how to write the orders and take care of the patient. The patient did well. I learnt so much from her and I was very impressed by her.

On another call night, she taught me how to read EKG’s, and then gave me a book of hers on reading EKG’s. I still have the book today, with her name written inside the front cover in her neat handwriting.

After her residency, she did another residency in Dermatology and got married. She started working with a Dermatology group. She had two children, a girl and a boy, but soon after her son was born, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died from this. She was only 36 years old.

I remember being very sad at the news. I have never forgotten what she taught me about how to treat a diabetic with uncontrolled sugars. I also see her neatly written name on the inside cover of her book every time I wish to look up an EKG.