JOSH: IT IS FAIR TO SAY NO ONE
EXPECTED BEN CARSON TO BE A
WORLD-FAMOUS NEUROSURGEON WHEN
HE GREW UP.
DR. CARSON: IS THIS A GOOD PLACE
FOR BREAKFAST?
IT ABSOLUTELY IS.
JOSH: THE SMALL TALK BETWEEN
RETIRED DR. BEN CARSON AND THIS
GROUP AT THE AIRPORT DINER
TURNED PRETTY SERIOUS PRETTY
FAST.
HOW ARE YOU A NEUROSURGEON
WHEN YOU HAVE BAD NEWS TO TELL A
PARENT?
DR. CARSON: IT MAKES ME SAD.
FRUSTRATED.
DR. CARSON: THE WAY YOU GET
THROUGH THAT IS YOU DO THE BEST
THAT YOU CAN DO.
I ALWAYS SAY, YOU DO YOUR BEST,
AND LET GOD DO THE REST.
IN MY LIFE, I ALWAYS GIVE GOD
THE CREDIT FOR THE GOOD STUFF.
HE ALSO GETS THE BLAME FOR THE
BAD STUFF.
MY ONLY JOB IS TO DO THE BEST I
POSSIBLY CAN DO.
JOSH: HE HAS DONE HIS BEST IS
ONE OF THE MOST RENOWNED
NEUROSURGEONS IN THE WORLD, BUT
IT DIDN'T START OUT THAT WAY.
CARSON SAID GROWING UP HIS EARLY
CHILDHOOD WAS DIFFICULT, BUT ONE
DAY, SOMEONE HELPED UNLOCK HIS
POTENTIAL.
DID YOU HAVE ANY PARTICULAR
TEACHER WHO INFLUENCED YOU?
DR. CARSON: YEAH, SEVERAL.
THE FIRST ONE WAS MR. JAKE, THE
FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER.
HE WAS THE FIRST TEACHER THAT
ACTUALLY THOUGHT THAT I WAS
SMART.
IT WAS AN EPISODE -- SOME OF YOU
PROBABLY SAW IT IN A MOVIE,
"GIFTED HANDS" -- HE CAME IN AND
SAID, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS,
HOLDING UP A SHINY BLACK ROCK?
I DIDN'T NAME -- RAISE MY HAND.
I HAD BEEN READING ABOUT ROCKS,
AND I ACTUALLY KNEW WHAT IT WAS.
[LAUGHTER]
WHICH JUST SHOCKED EVERYBODY.
I EXPLAINED HOW IT WAS FORMED,
AND EVERYBODY WAS LIKE, WHAT?
BENNY, THE DUMMY?
I WAS PROBABLY THE MOST AMAZED
PERSON.
I SAID, YOU ARE NO DUMMY.
HE SAID, THE REASON YOU KNEW
THAT ANSWER WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE
READING THE BOOKS.
HE SAID, ARE TOO TIRED ABOUT
BEING CALLED A DUMMY?
HE SAID, WHAT IF YOU READ BOOKS
ABOUT OLDER SUBJECTS?
FROM THAT POINT ON, YOU NEVER
FAMILY WITHOUT A BOOK.
JOSH: HE SAID HIS FAITH MADE HIM
STRONGER, FAITH MADE STRONGER BY
AN INFLUENTIAL PERSON IN HIS
LIFE.
HOW DID YOU COME TO FAITH?
DR. CARSON: IT WAS BY OSMOSIS
WITH MY MOTHER.
IN THE HOSPITAL, SHE MET A WOMAN
NAMED MARY THOMAS WHO REALLY HAD
A PROFOUND EFFECT ON HER AND WAS
A STRONG CHRISTIAN LADY.
THAT'S HOW SHE CAME TO THE
FAITH.
MY MOTHER WAS, EVEN BEFORE THAT,
SHE HAD AN INHERENT BELIEF IN
GOD, BUT THAT FORMALIZED HER
FAITH, MEETING MARY THOMAS.
IT WAS THE REALLY THE THING THAT
GOT HER THROUGH SO MANY
DIFFICULTIES.
SHE WOULD SAY, NO MATTER WHAT
THE SITUATION WAS, SHE WOULD
SAY, GOD WILL GET US THROUGH
THIS.
JOSH: IT WAS GOD WHO CARSON SAID
GOT HIM THROUGH ONE OF THE MOST
FRIGHTENING MOMENTS OF HIS LIFE
THAT HE SHARED WITH THE WOMAN
WHO IS NOW HIS WIFE.
IT WAS ON THE WAY BACK TO
YALE.
WE STAYED UP A LITTLE BIT LATER
THAN WE SHOULD HAVE, VISITING
FRIENDS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN.
WE WERE GOING TO DRIVE ALL NIGHT
TO GET BACK BY THE NEXT MORNING.
SHE FELL ASLEEP FIRST, AND I
FELL ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL IN
YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO ON INTERSTATE
80 GOING 90 MILES PER HOUR.
I WAS AWAKENED BY THE VIBRATION
OF THE CAR AS IT WAS GOING OFF
THE ROAD INTO A RAVINE.
I JUST GRABBED THE WHEEL AND
TURNED IT.
IT SHOULD'VE FLIPPED OVER, AND
THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE END OF
IT, BUT SOMEHOW IT STARTED
SPINNING LIKE A SPINNING TOP.
THEY SAY YOUR LIFE FLASHES
BEFORE YOUR EYES WHEN YOU DIE.
IT DID.
THERE WAS THIS REEL.
I SAID, WE ARE GOING TO DIE.
THE CAR STOPPED IN THE LANE NEXT
TO THE SHOULDER, POINTING IN THE
RIGHT OR ACTION, JUST IN TIME TO
PULL OFF BEFORE AN 18-W
HEELER CAME BARRELING TO.
OF COURSE, CANDY WAS AWAKE BY
THEN.
SHE SAID, WHAT HAPPENED?
I SAID, GO BACK TO SLEEP.
[LAUGHTER]
WE ACTUALLY TALKED ABOUT WHAT
HAD HAPPENED, AND WE PRAYED AND
THANKED GOD.
JOSH: THE START OF A LONG AND
HAPPY RELATIONSHIP, A TIME
DURING WHICH HE FACED ANOTHER
SCARY MOMENT.
DR. CARSON: THE NEXT DAY, WHEN
I'M OPERATING, I GET A CALL, AND
THE NURSE HOLDS THE PHONE TO MY
EAR.
I HEAR NOT ONLY DO I HAVE
CANCER, BUT I HAVE AN AGGRESSIVE
FORM.
I PUT THAT OUT OF MY MIND AND
FINISHED THE OPERATION.
IT WAS KIND OF A BLOW TO THINK
OF THAT.
I HAD AN MRI DONE TO MAKE SURE
IT HADN'T METASTASIZED.
I WAS EXPECTING WHEN I CAME OUT
OF THE MACHINE FOR THE NARROW
RADIOLOGIST TO SAY, LOOKS GREAT,
NO PROBLEM, BUT THERE WAS NO
NEURORADIOLOGIST TO SAY THAT.
I WENT UP TO MY OFFICE AND PUT
THEM ON THE VIEWBOX, AND MY
HEART SANK.
I SAW ALL THESE LESIONS UP AND
DOWN MY SPINE.
I SAT DOWN AT MY DESK AND
STARTED THINKING.
I THOUGHT ABOUT MY CHILDHOOD,
WHEN I WAS SITTING ON THE GHETTO
STAIRS IN BOSTON AND LOOKING
THROUGH THE BUILDING ACROSS THE
STREET OUT OF WHICH ALL THE
WINDOWS HAD BEEN BROKEN, THE
SUNDAY MEANING.
IT MADE ME THINK ABOUT MY LIFE.
AS A NINE-YEAR-OLD, I WAS
THINKING, I WILL NEVER LIVE TO
BE 25.
AS I SAT AT MY DESK, I WAS
SAYING, YOU'VE LIVED TWICE THAT
LONG.
YOU HAVE HAD A GOOD LIFE.
THERE IS NOTHING TO BE SAD
ABOUT.
I JUST ASSUMED I WAS GOING TO
DIE.
IT WASN'T FRIGHTENING THE.
-- FRIGHTENING THOUGH.
THERE'S A SONG CALLED "WELCOME
HOME, CHILDREN."
IT KEPT GOING THROUGH MY MIND.
THE SADDEST THING WAS THINKING
ABOUT DYING AND LEAVING MY
FAMILY AND MY WIFE.
THAT WAS TOUGH.
I WOULD WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE NIGHT SOMETIMES AND HEAR HER
SOBBING.
IT TURNED OUT THAT IT WAS A
CONGENITAL ANOMALY OF THE BONE
MARROW.
IT WAS NOT A METASTASIS.
[LAUGHTER]
I WAS ABLE TO HAVE SURGERY DONE
BY PAT WALSH, AND I'M CANCER
FREE TODAY.
JOSH: CANCER FREE, SOMETHING
MANY OTHER PEOPLE ARE THANKFUL
FOR.
DR. CARSON: HIS PARENTS WERE
THERE, AND THEY SAID, YOU
OPERATED ON HIM WHEN HE WAS ONE
YEARS OLD.
YOU DID A HEMISPHERIC TO ME.
THAT'S AN OPERATION WHERE WE
TAKE OUT HALF THE BRAIN TO STOP
SEIZURES.
THEY SAID, WE WANT YOU TO KNOW
HE GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE NUMBER
ONE IN HIS CLASS.
WITH HALF OF A BRAIN.