In the introductory chapters, Dr Brand wrote a little bit about his childhood in idea as well as his parents. His parents worked as missionaries in the Kollis mountain ranges found in South India. Together, they founded nine schools and a string of clinics to improve the education and healthcare of the rural mountain range. His father, Jesse Brand, wasn't a fully trained doctor. He trained in tropical medicine for a year. Despite this fact, what he accomplished was inspiring and reminds many the role of a physician. Between 1918-1919, an epidemic of Spanish influenza broke out worldwide, reaching even into the Kollis mountain range where it killed a very high proportion of the population. Most of the locals fled into the woods in fear of the disease striking them, leaving behind family and friends with the disease to die. However, Jesse did not shun from the disease. Instead he rode towards the disease together with his wife, Evelyn, risking infection to take care of those who are already down.
Their courage to do something like this was probably driven by a quality known as Compassion. "Compassion" originated from the Latin word com + pati, meaning "to suffer with".
Evelyn also played an important role in improving healthcare in Kollis. She educated people on the prevention of getting a parasite quite common in that area known as the guinea worm along with a string of other common problems in the region.
Soon, she earned the trust of the locals, the most precious commodity any healthcare worker can earn.
Then Dr Brand talked about his experiences while in medical school before moving on to main section of the book: A Career in Pain
Shall continue some other time :)
Keep coming back!
