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Once
upon a time, not too long ago,
a dear friend, Peter Sangiorgio and
his business partner, Sandro Macri,
were about to celebrate an enormous
milestone on a very special evening. One
hundred of their closest friends would be
invited. The occasion was called Laura's
Journey
You
see, my friend's partner had a most
beautiful daughter who, just the year
before, had survived brain surgery.
Laura's Journey was created so as to
present a check in the amount of several
thousand dollars to the renowned Dr.
James Rutka, Chair of the Division
of Neurosurgery in the Department
of Surgery, at the Hospital for Sick
Children (HSC). Would I fly in from
New York for the evening?
Hmmm - I thought. Life had come full
circle! And Chair of Neurosurgery at
that.
Many years ago, Neurosurgery at the
Hospital For Sick Children became an
extremely integral part of my life when
my infant son was rushed to HSC - and
diagnosed with a brain tumor. There
were conflicting theories as to why the
tumor was there. My GP had said it was
caused from a fall when little Thomas
had quickly slipped from my arms onto
And so, a long, agonizing spell ensued
with the then unparalleled, Dr. Bruce
Hendrick, performing the surgery with
immense love!
Dr.
Hendrick had become Canada's first
full-time pediatric neurosurgeon and the
national expert for children with diseases
of the nervous system, particularly those
relating to head injury.
But
even with the best in Dr. Hendrick,
little Thomas John Michael was to
survive but a few days. What I had come
to learn was fascinating. Actually, it
was a perforated ulcer that took the life
of Thomas. What happens, I'm told, is
that stress within tiny bodies can create
multiple ulcers which form into one
huge ulcer that perforates and…
Sadly, Dr Hendrick passed away himself
a few years ago from a ruptured intestinal
ulcer. Now, a good couple of decades
later, none other than the phenomenal
Dr. James Rutka is holding Dr.
Hendrick's former position at Sick Kids
with his neurosurgery program being
recognized today as one of the best in the
world!
Dr. James Rutka was born in Toronto,
Canada, became an Ontario Scholar and
was educated at Princeton University,
New Jersey, in Chemical Engineering.
He graduated from the Faculty of
Medicine at Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario, winning the Dean
Fowler Prize for highest standing in
the final year, while at the same time
quarterbacking the Queen's Golden
Gaels football team to the National
College
Bowl championship. He did an
internship at McGill University before
entering the University of Toronto
Neurosurgery Training Program in
1982. His training included a research
fellowship at the Brain Tumor Research
Center at the University of California,
San Francisco, where he obtained his
Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology in
1987, and a post-doctoral research
fellowship in molecular immunology at
Juntendo University, Tokyo, in 1990.
Today,
Dr. Rutka is not only Professor
and Chair of Neurosurgery, but he
is also Co-director of the Arthur and
Sonia Labatt Brain Tumor Research
Centre at the University of Toronto.
He is President-Elect of the American
Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Throughout his career, Dr. Rutka
has received numerous awards and
accolades including the Lister Prize in
the Department of Surgery, the Grass
Award from the Society of Neurological
Surgeons, and the Bittner Prize from the
American Association of Neurological
Surgeons. One of his most cherished
awards is being named a member of the
International Order of Smile, an award
given by children to an individual who
has devoted his career to the care of and
compassion for children. Canada's The
Globe and Mail has listed Dr Rutka as
one of the Nation Builders in Canada, in
Science and Technology.