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World-famous pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson was raised by a single mother with a third-grade education in Detroit. Today at 57, he is the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. With his faith and her guidance, he went from being considered a "dummy" and nearly stabbing a boy because of his uncontrollable temper to attending Yale University and University of Michigan Medical School. He is best known for his work separating conjoined twins.
Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008, he has written several books, was the subject of a movie about his extraordinary life, "Gifted Hands; The Ben Carson Story," which premiered in February on TNT. Dr. Carson was in Pittsburgh earlier this year for the annual Carson Scholars Fund benefit. He is married with three grown sons.
Your mother was the guiding light, especially in your early life. Where did she get her inspiration?
I think she got it from observation from the places she worked and how successful those people were, and she said, "Why are these people so successful?" She began to realize they had purposeful lives. They studied things and did a lot of reading and research. It wasn't just happenstance. It wasn't just inheritance. She began to think, "You know what? I bet my boys can do that, too."
It's pretty incredible for a woman who could barely read to believe that nothing was beyond your reach.
Yes, it seems relatively unique in the society in which we live now because there's so many people that have sort of an entitlement me mentality and it's owed to them. She always felt there was something you could do to change your circumstances and improve. I'm not sure where that came from. (laughing)
It seemed she wasn't going to settle for you just getting by.
Absolutely, that's correct. She wanted us to be very successful.
You talk about having a bad temper as a boy and even trying to stab a kid. Did you really take control of your temper in just that one day by reading the Bible?
It turned around in that three-hour period. Some things we can't explain logically, but I really feel God had a role in that. I just said I can't control my temper, and as I was in that bathroom those three hours you know a lot of things occurred to me, not the least of which is people who react are not strong people. They are weak people. That was not the kind of person I wanted to be.
When I picked up the Bible and turned to the Book of Proverbs, there were all these verses about anger. Verse after verse about all this trouble it can get you into, and it seemed like they were just written for me. I just happened to turn to them. I didn't know they were there. As I was reading I thought "boy that sure sounds like me." (laughing)
Your life story is unique in that you have had other incidents that seem like something bigger has intervened. The dream before the chemistry test at Yale (he saw the problems written out that were in the test, after cramming most of the night for the test).
I have run into a number of people over the years who have told me they have had similar things happen, but you know it just indicated to me that there was a purpose for my life. The same thing happened when my wife and I -- we weren't even going together at the time -- with the automobile (he fell asleep at the wheel driving back late one night from interviewing prospective Yale students. Candy slept through wild spinning and only woke up when the car stopped). After that we just said "You know what? God has a purpose for our lives because there is no way we should have survived that."
You dealt with racism especially early in your career. How did you keep it from getting in your way?
I came to an understanding early on that if I encountered a racist person, they were the one with the problem, not me. I have always lived my life that way and taught my kids to live their lives that way. It's just really not a big problem.
What do you think is the biggest obstacle people face on the road to success?
Lack of self-confidence and lack of sweat equity. A lot of people just expect things to happen for them. That's why God gave us these incredible brains so that we can make the things happen. Not sit around and expect them to happen.
You faced your own health scare recently when you were diagnosed with prostate cancer. How did that affect your faith and your vision of the future?
During the time when things looked grim, I discovered I wasn't afraid to die. The only thing I was concerned about was leaving my loved ones and people who were dependent upon me. The thought of death itself was not frightening, and I had always wondered whether it would be. It really wasn't, but it also made me identify more with people who really are facing that situation.
Do you think nationalized health care is a good idea?
I think there are some aspects of it that could work very well. For instance, I think the government should be responsible for catastrophic health care. Defined by a certain dollar amount and the insurance companies should be responsible for routine health care. You know, we still spend 40 to 60 percent of all health care dollars on the last six months of a person's life. That doesn't make any sense.
Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, having a movie made about you and the general acclaim, what does all that mean to you?
I decided a long time ago that I would use all of those things to create the best possible platform from which to try to get young people to achieve at a much higher level because it's really a matter of national security what we're dealing with here. You know we produce 60,000 interns a year and China produces 392,000 interns a year. We are not going to do well in the future, particularly in the technological future, unless we can change this dramatically.
The Carson Scholars Fund was created to do that.
Exactly, that's what it's all about. Networking some of the smartest young people in our nation and having them take full leadership roles in our society.
How about your own sons? Are they following your example?
Well, my three sons are all gainfully employed, which is wonderful. (Laughing) One's an engineer, one's a wealth management adviser and one is an accountant. Nobody wanted to go into medicine, though.
Well, from the hours you describe.
Yeah, they all thought I worked too hard.
How did your wife Candy deal with you not being around very much because of your long hours?
She's very independent and very smart in her own right, and she took advantage of the time to get things done and start musical groups and to get her MBA and do all kinds of stuff. It was never an issue. She really did say what she said in the movie when I tell her I am going to be a neurosurgeon and I wouldn't be around much, she said, "Is that a promise?" (Laughing)
Mackenzie Carpenter's video program, "Omnivore," is available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
