Ed Gavagan at TEDMED 2012

In the E.R., years of painstaking medical training helps doctors pull life from the brink of death -- in a matter of minutes. Ed Gavagan tells a gripping tale of the medical expertise that saved him after a random violent encounter.

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  Education

[Michael Jackson]

I forgot about my comment on here. It's funny how things worked out. I opened up my medical records from the hospital for the 1st time in over 15yrs! Believe it or not, I actually got a bit teary-eyed. I was in such trauma for 2 days before I was operated on that I don't remember much. I read hundreds of pages of reports & I didn't know that my doctor saved my life! I knew he was a brilliant surgeon but reading the reports I found out he genuinely saved me from DEATH! I teared up a little.

[Chardo Chickentimber]

For some reason crying is a side effect from surgery that i didn't know about till after my heart surgery. It's not a weakness thing it just happens for no reason and at any time. It's very embarrassing when it hits, but it's not from grief. It's very hard to explain. It just kind of happens whether your happy or sad, it just happens. Maybe you don't remember brother, but you handled it differently. It's been 2 years and it still happens to me.

[Michael Jackson]

I don't know why he was on the verge of tears. In 1998 I got into a car accident that paralyzed me for life from L1-L2 down. At age 11 my entire future changed. The doctor that operated on me was a surgeon by the name of Dr. Skaggs @ the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. I went through months of hell as I was adjusting to this new life and I spent another decade outside the hospital recovering in more ways than one. Even with all that trauma I don't cry thinking about my doctor. I don't get it