Edward Henson
Last Christmas, Edward Henson's best present was the ability to easily open his gifts, without the severe pain that had been a constant companion his entire life. Twenty-five years ago, Henson was born with severe scoliosis and shortly after that suffered a stroke. Although he survived the stroke, his spinal condition and its consequences were issues he could not overcome, even with ten surgeries-until now.
On December 4, 2006, Dr. Michael Daubs and Dr. Shay Bess, orthopedic surgeons at the University of Utah, performed the first of two dangerous but, in this case, essentially life-saving operations. The doctors anchored two long stainless-steel rods close to the spine-one in the first surgery and one in the second-to straighten Henson's gnarled spine. As they cut away chunks of bone from the spine and attached more than thirty screws, Daubs and Bess were constantly aware that harming the delicate spinal cord could cause paralysis. But their vigilant hands escaped the danger, and Henson emerged from the surgeries elated.
Before the operations, pain prevented him from sleeping more than a few hours each night. Classmates heckled and gawked at his twisted figure. His disability deemed him inelegible for a plethora of jobs, and it took him all day to merely clean his room. Opportunities seemed so out of his grasp, he even considered suicide. But now, life is good. Henson sleeps, walks, and plans to work as a janitor. And, perhaps most importantly, Edward Henson smiles.
