Sunday, April 12, 2015
Renowned Cardiologist Levi Watkins Jr. Dies - DiverseEducation.com - According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Watkins was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to the medical field but was never selected. His brother, Donald Watkins, told the Advertiser that he was amazed at the outpouring of love and support from around the world. “We’re very proud of his accomplishments as a person and professional,” Donald Watkins said. “It simply amazes us that a young man from Montgomery during the time of civil rights can go forth and touch so many lives in the world. It’s unbelievable. … Condolences are pouring in from all over the world from people who have been touched by Levi and his life’s work. What amazes me about Levi’s life is the sheer number of people who are living today because he believed in and practiced excellence in his profession.”
Nov 2013: Johns Hopkins’ Pioneering Cardiac Surgeon Reflects on Lifetime of Service - Higher Education - B. Denise Hawkins - It’s been three decades since Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. made medical history when he stopped the heart of a California woman just long enough to perform the first human implantation of the automatic defibrillator. Watkins, who is African-American, finds it “ironic,” even today, that “women and African-Americans are 30 to 40 percent less likely to get a defibrillator even when they meet the criteria and have the insurance.”
Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. (1944-2015) - Donald V. Watkins Moving Tribute To His Wonderful Brother and His Incredible Legacy. -- The Angels escorted my brother Levi Watkins, Jr., to his Heavenly home early this morning. He departed his Earthly body after a massive heart attack and stroke on Friday night. Levi died at his beloved Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he saved thousands of patients as a world-renowned heart surgeon. His spirit lives on in the three million patients worldwide whose hearts beat in a normal rhythm because of the implantable defibrillator he invented. Levi was one of my heroes. I loved, admired and respected him so much. I was with Levi years ago when he was first nominated for the Nobel prize in medicine for his invention. I was so proud of Levi and his rugged determination along the journey from rigid racial segregation in Alabama to acknowledged greatness in medicine on the world stage. We reminisced that day about how the University of Alabama at Birmingham would not accept Levi into its medical school in 1966. Instead, the state of Alabama paid Levi’s way to attend Vanderbilt Medical School, where he graduated as the first black medical student in that University’s history.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)