DC Surgeon Says His Journey to Medicine is One of Survival

A D.C. surgeon who is credited with saving many lives through his pioneering work in organ transplant medicine says his story is one of faith and survival.

Dr. Clive Callender, a transplant surgeon and professor of surgery for Howard University Hospital, was born in New York City in 1936.

His mother had prayed for another son after two of her sons had passed away.

"She got pregnant again and low and behold, twin boys," Callender said.

But within 48 hours, Callender's mother died of complications from delivery, leaving he and his brother in foster care.

When their father, who worked on a railroad, couldn't care for them, his devoutly religious aunt took them in to raise them with her own family.

"I spent most of my early days in church, reading the bible and then ... decided I wanted to be a medical missionary," Callender said.

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Hoping to realize his dream, Callender started high school. But at the age of 15 he contracted tuberculosis -- putting his high school education to a grinding halt.

He spent 18 months in the hospital and said despite that experience, he still wanted to do medicine.

"I had the opportunity to see people dying, people living," he said.

Without going to school since entering the hospital, the prospect of medical school appeared dim.

But Callender stuck with his goal.

"It was amazing to me and to the rest of my classmates, when ... I was the first person in the class to get accepted into medical school," he said. "How that miracle took place, I'll never know."

He went on to become a doctor and to make miracles happen for others by becoming a medical missionary and eventually he created the transplant center at Howard University Hospital.

"It's amazing how in my life I've had faith and would step out and the ground would be there," he said.

Callender just celebrated his 80th Birthday in November.

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