Sparta High sophomore travels to Philippines as surgical assistant
The woman at the front office at Sparta High School saw the notepad and the camera and figured we were there for a sports story.
That's understandable. That's the world we live in. Games are covered, championships decided, top teams selected, players picked for all-this or all-that, all in the public eye. The passion for high school sports bring communities together and sometimes it tears them apart.
Homage is paid to such a degree that we lose sight of the fact that 99.9 percent of high school athletes aren't really doing anything extraordinary. That may be painful to all us bleacher-sore parents, but it's true.
One by-product of our sports-crazy society is that the kids outside of sports who are doing extraordinary things often get overlooked in their school and community. They walk among their peers holding knowledge and experiences that are not shared by teammates, or celebrated by fans. Their world is fascinating and inspiring, but often a closely-held secret known only to family and a small group of like-minded friends.
So, with that preamble in mind, meet Ben Hyland.
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He is a 16-year-old sophomore at Sparta High School who is embarking on his second surgical mission to the most impoverished areas of the Philippines. He left yesterday to work in poor neighborhoods in the city of Cebu.
At 15, Ben joined the Society of Philippine Surgeons of America under the guidance of his grandfather, Benjamin Zamora, a retired general surgeon, for a mission to Samar Island in the Philippines.
In the city of Calbayog last year, Ben worked side by side with volunteer surgeons and nurses in caring for people so poor they had very little previous access to medical care.
Because of that, most were in advanced stages of diseases.
"They were operating on women with Stage 3 or 4 breast cancer," said Ben's father, Michael Hyland. "He was there when people were told they were going to die."
Let that sentence sit with you for a moment. Think about a 15-year-old boy observing such conversations of intimate detail and tragic consequence. Think about how much trust he must have gained from the volunteer surgeons to be allowed in that room.
"I think Ben really understands that equally important to becoming an excellent technical surgeon is the ability to know your patients as human beings," said his mother, Nicole Hyland. "You have to know what they need, and the compassion you show them is as important as the outcome."
The place where Ben worked last year was hard hit by a typhoon two years ago, making life in the poorest areas even more desperate.
For Ben, the experience of seeing such poverty and the health implications that result from it was a life-changing experience.
"I always knew I wanted to be a surgeon," he said. "But now I've seen how much need there is in the world. I always knew it, but to see it yourself is different."
The scalpel is in his blood. Zamora, his grandfather on his mother's side, was a general surgeon at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, and his grandmother was a nurse there.
"They always had these lively stories," Nicole Hyland said. "The things they talked about at dinner might make some people squeamish but for us it was just normal conversation."
On his father's side, a great-grandfather was an orthopedic surgeon.
"I think there was inevitability to this," said Michael Hyland. "Ben heard a lot of stories (from the Zamoras) and about their adventures."
His mother said he was attracted to the Society of Philippine Surgeon's mission because of his own Filipino heritage and desire "to give part of himself to people in need."
He spent three weeks in Calbayog last year doing pre-op screening, assisting in surgery and doing post-op care, then returned with a power point presentation for his classmates - including photographs of actual surgeries.
"You heard some kids say, 'Ewww' but most were pretty interested," Ben said.
This year, as biology teacher Rusty Brown is teaching Ben's classmates about the digestive system, Ben will be in a Cebu operating room helping doctors repair internal organs or excise tumors. Again, he'll return with photographs and a power point about his trip.
Brown said he's not worried about Ben missing school.
"Obviously he's very conscientious student," Brown said. "He has the unit we're working on, but he'll also be having hands-on experience for what we're studying in class."
Two weeks ago, Ben was nominated by his school to attend the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists in Boston in June. This is a serious convention for serious kids.
If this were sports, this would be called a showcase for "blue-chip prospects."
Well, Ben Hyland is just that, except that his uniform is a set of scrubs and a sterile face mask. Now you know him, and there are a more kids out there like him who we should be hearing about.
Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.