Death of a Legend

Yesterday Dr. DeBakey died at age 99 leaving a larger than life legacy.  Our medical school class was the last to have Dr. DeBakey welcome it to Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) about a year ago. He gave rather strong admonition for us to study hard and excel in our chosen profession.  More recently, he also gave an interesting presentation on key accomplishments in his career this past Spring at our BCM research symposium.   It was amazing to have a 98 year-old physician lecture with such energy, passion, and dignity.  He told us how he became interested in sewing from watching his mother sew.  He also learned how to sew and appreciate good fabric.  This skill was obviously useful in preparing him in his career as a vascular and heart surgeon.  His innovative use of Dacron in aortic repairs was a major invention that he cherished to the end of his life.