Years Later, Patient and Surgeon Reunite in OR
ATLANTA - A Children's Healthcare of Atlanta employee didn't realize when he was a teen that the man who saved his life would one day become his co-worker and friend.
Doctor Andrew Reisner works as a pediatric neurosurgeon at CHOA. He's been there for a long time and many families, patients and staff members know his name.
"Good things happen when Dr. Reisner is in the OR," CHOA said.
There are many families who will be forever grateful to Dr. Reisner. One person, in particular, is Terrell Singleton. When Singleton was 16-years-old in 2006 he started to have unusual symptoms such as passing out, dizziness and confusion.
"I just remember throwing up every day, constant headaches," Singleton told the FOX Medical Team's Beth Galvin.
His parents first thought it was migraines because at the time he was in the ninth grade and playing football for his school. However, one day, Singleton's legs grew weak and started turning inward.
"I looked on the internet and it said, if it affected their legs, something was wrong," his mother Gail Singleton said.
That's where Dr. Reisner comes into the picture. Singleton was rushed to CHOA by ambulance and had to immediately undergo surgery. It was a huge tumor in his brain that was causing him to be sick.
"No matter how long you do this, it's always a shock to see something as dramatic as what I saw on Terrell's scan," Dr. Reisner said. The night that Singleton was brought in, Reisner told the teen's family that Terrell was losing consciousness and was about to die. Dr. Reisner rushed him into surgery and inserted a shunt to relieve the pressure building in his brain.