How Hard Work and Dedication Can Elevate a Person

 How Hard Work and Dedication Can Elevate a Person

By Tahir Mahmood Naqash

                The illiterate man who taught and trained the most doctors in the world to operate, but where did he learn all this from? A story that the younger generation must know!

            Hard work and dedication can elevate a person and an example of this is John Hamilton of South Africa who was an illiterate person but his hard work, dedication brought him to the heights of prosperity. Medical University of Cape Town, the capital of South Africa Fifteen years ago, one morning in 2003, the world-renowned surgeon, Professor David Dent, announced in the university auditorium that the world's first bypass operation had taken place at the same university. Degrees that have produced the most surgeons in the world, an extraordinary teacher and amazing surgeon who has amazed medical science and expert surgeons. With the announcement, the professor named Hamilton Naki, and the entire auditorium stood and greeted the black man. It was the largest reception in the history of the university. Born in the village of Sanitani. His father, Yin, was a shepherd. He wore goat skin, walked barefoot all day in the mountains, and helped his parents graze sheep and goats. As a young man, he left his village for Cape Town in search of work. In those days a university was being built in Cape Town. He was recruited as a laborer in the university. He used to send home most of the money he got after a hard day's work and sleep in the open field after eating a little food and chewing gram. He worked as a laborer for many years and then became a financial recruiter at the same university. He got the job of cutting the grass of the tennis court. He used to reach the tennis court every day and start cutting the grass. He continued to do this for three years and then a strange turning point came in his life and he reached a point in the modern history of medicine where no illiterate person has ever reached. It was a beautiful morning. Robert Joyce, a professor at the same university, was researching a giraffe. He laid a giraffe on the operating table, knocked it unconscious, but as soon as the operation began, the giraffe shook its head, so he felt the need for a strong man to hold the giraffe's neck tightly during the operation. The professor came out of the theater. Hamilton was mowing the lawn in front. The professor saw that he was a healthy young man of strong stature. They beckoned him and ordered him to grab the giraffe's neck. Hamilton grabbed the giraffe's neck. The operation lasted for eight hours. During this time, the doctor kept taking tea and coffee breaks but Hamilton stood holding the giraffe's neck. When the operation was over, he quietly went out and started cutting grass. The next day the professor called him again, he came and stood holding the giraffe's neck. After that it became normal. He would come to the university, catch animals in the operating theater for eight to ten hours, and then start mowing the grass on the tennis court. Hamilton worked for several months. Professor Robert Joyce was impressed by her perseverance and sincerity and made her a financial assistant. Hamilton was promoted. He now came to the university, went to the operating theater and helped the surgeons. This went on for years. In 1958 came another turning point in his life. This year, Dr. Bernard came to the University and underwent heart transplant surgery. Hamilton became his assistant. He watched Dr. Bernard's work closely. During these operations, he went from an assistant to an additional surgeon. He used to apply stunning stitches, his fingers became clean and fast, he stitched fifty people in one day. While working in the operating theater, he began to understand the human body more than the surgeons. So the great doctors entrusted this illiterate man with the responsibility of teaching the junior doctors. He now began teaching surgery techniques to junior doctors. He gradually became the most important figure at Hamilton University. He was unfamiliar with the terms of medical science but was a better surgeon than the greatest surgeon. The third turning point in his life came in 1970. This year, when research on the liver began, he identified an artery in the liver during an operation that facilitated liver transplantation. Astonished the big minds of science. Today, when a person has a liver operation in some corner of the world and the patient opens his eyes, the credit for this successful operation goes to Hamilton. Hamilton has been associated with the University of Cape Town for 50 years. He traveled 14 miles daily to the university on foot. He never complained about the length of working hours and the lack of facilities. Then came a time in his life when his salary and benefits were higher than the university's vice chancellor. He received an honor that no one in medical science has ever received. He was the first illiterate teacher of medical history. He never saw the face of this school. He could not read or write a single word of English. He was the first illiterate surgeon to train 30,000 surgeons in his lifetime. He died in 2005 and was buried at the university.