When he was just 17-years-old, Jon Gayken was diagnosed with a blood infection.
The infection caused massive sores all over his body. Blood vessels died, and the only way to treat him was with skin grafts at the hospital's Burn Center.
Now, years later, Jon has scars all over his body from that ordeal. However, as a burn doctor, he's able to show them to his patients to let them know how he empathizes with them.
Jon returned to the Hennepin County Medical Center Burn Center where he was treated and works with nurse Pat Anderson. Pat was the nurse who tended to Jon when he was a patient all those years ago!
At the time, about 40 percent of his body died, but his near-death experience gave him a sense of purpose.
He says, "It’s like, well this happened to me so that I could go and be a doctor and take care of people."
Because of his illness, he's able to approach patients differently than other doctors — something that makes a huge difference in patients' recovery and in how they and their families cope with the trauma.
He added, "I show them just to give a little bit of legitimacy to what I’m saying. A lot of times it just changes our relationship."
Please SHARE if you know that, despite the trauma he experienced at such a young age, Dr. Jon Gayken was meant to help patients just like him!
