My day came to a halt this past Monday morning when the radio host announced the death of Dr. C. Everett Koop at the age of 96. I nodded as the accomplishments of his life in politics were listed: Surgeon General under Ronald Reagan, evangelical Christian and early champion of the pro-life movement, promoter of AIDS education and prevention, crusader of tobacco health warnings, and defender of the rights of children with special needs.

But that story—and every other media story about this remarkable man— barely mentioned C. Everett Koop’s many accomplishments before he became Surgeon General.
They didn’t mention his long tenure as surgeon-in-chief and practicing physician at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia from 1946 to 1981.
They didn’t mention he created the first neonatal intensive care (NICU) at CHOP in 1956.
They didn’t mention that he pioneered the field of pediatric surgery by perfecting the administration of safe doses of anesthesia to newborns, babies, and children.
They didn’t mention that the first birth anomaly surgically corrected by Koop was a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), now known as esophageal atresia (EA/TEF).
They didn’t mention that the baby would have died from EA/TEF without the risky surgery.
They didn’t mention that because of that original, pioneering work, our son, who was born in 1982 with EA/TEF, is alive today.
They didn’t mention the impact C. Everett Koop had on our family.

But the impact C. Everett Koop had on our family was all I could think about on Monday. It was all my husband could think about, too. He mentioned the news the minute he came in the door after work. Together we talked about how this great man’s work changed our lives in ways not noticeable to national media reports, but worthy of mention nonetheless.

To read the rest of this article, please go to the Not Alone website.

photo source: The Gospel Coalition

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