The first time Dr. Andrew Reisner saw JaVaris Terrell Singleton, the teen was in a coma in the emergency room at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.
Doctors discovered fluid on the brain caused by a fist-sized tumor. Surgery was risky. His family was told that Singleton might not pull through.
"No question, he was in very critical condition," said Reisner, a pediatric neurosurgeon for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "There was a chance he would not survive surgery because of the size and location of the tumor in the brain, or the treatment."
Singleton was 16 at the time.
Nearly a decade later, the two would reunite in a hospital once again.
Reisner, 59, is still a practicing physician, and Singleton, 25, is now a hospital employee.
Reisner saw Singleton and his family during subsequent surgeries and follow-up visits until he was 21. His care was then transferred to a regular neurosurgeon.
When Singleton reached adulthood, Reisner no longer saw him as a patient, but kept in contact through family and mutual acquaintances.
Singleton, he was told, was interested in medicine “and I heard through the grapevine that he was looking to come to Children’s because he had had such a good experience here.”
A few weeks ago, Reisner was preparing to operate on a 3-year-old with a brain tumor when “I felt a tap on my shoulder and there he was.”
Singleton was pleased as well. “It feels great,” he said. “I know if I have a problem or question now, I can always call him or text him.” The former patient now works as a perioperative technician, a person who basically sets up equipment for the pre-operative area and brings in patients.
Their reunion, posted on CHOA's Facebook page, has received nearly 49,000 likes.
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The future didn’t look so promising that day eight years ago.
Singleton was a student at Centennial High School in Roswell when he started experiencing migraines, vomiting and fainting. He doesn’t remember everything that happened, but his friends have told him he used to pass out.
He had to give up football. It affected even the way he walked. He fell. His mother, Gail Bennett, said he was so slow that she used to nag him to walk faster.
One day she kept him out of school because he wasn’t feeling well. That day, the two decided to get out of the house and go see a movie. It was one of the Tom Cruise “Mission: Impossible” films.
The sound “was so loud, I couldn’t take it,” Singleton recalled. “It was super-loud. It felt as if I was in a giant tunnel with a lot of trains going by.”
Bennett said he started yelling. They got up to leave and that’s when she noticed his gait was really off. She had to help him to the restroom. They went home and she started searching the Internet to see if she could find a clue as to what was happening to her son.
What she found was frightening. She read that if someone is experiencing migraines and it affects walking, it could be serious.
She woke him up and they rushed to the hospital.
He started slipping into a coma.
The diagnosis was “a blow.”
She was told her son might not leave the hospital alive.
He did recover, however, although it took time and additional surgeries until he was nearly 22.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, though, remained on his mind. He had wanted to pursue a career in art because of his interest in drawing.
After his illness, though, he started considering the medical field and returning to the hospital system that once saved his life.
“I love it,” said Bennett. “I’m so overwhelmed with his job because he’s living his dream and he almost didn’t make it. And to work with his doctor is really amazing.”
Singleton, of McDonough, is married now and will soon be a dad.
“I wanted to try my best to get there,” Singleton said.
He said he began his new job in May and saw Reisner in passing a few times before they ended up together in pre-op.
“I don’t think he recognized me,” Singleton said. “I had on a mask and now have facial hair.”
When he told him who he was, Singleton said the doctor “just glowed. His eyes got big. He said, ‘I see you finally made it here.’”
