Back in the summer of 2007, a 22-year old kid named kevin Morton was working, attending college, and seemingly had his whole bright future ahead of him. However, while leaving work after one midnight shift, Kevin walked out into the parking lot to his own car as he’d done so many times before only to be gunned down by a thief in cold blood. “My car was in reverse when I saw the shadow (of a man) coming up,” Morton said. According to Kevin, there was a flash of light and a loud noise — Morton had been shot through the stomach and robbed. Instinctively, Morton knew he was bleeding out and needed immediate medical help, so he began to drive towards St. John Hospital, which was only a few miles away. Unfortunately, the state of his wounds were too big to overcome and Kevin passed out while driving and crashed off the side of the road. To say the situation was grim doesn’t even begin to paint the picture. Thankfully for Kevin, a random passer-by spotted Kevin’s car and dialed 911. Finally, a lucky break, but Kevin’s problems were far from over.

Kevin briefly awoke inside the ambulance, with an oxygen mask covering his face. “All I could think about was my younger sisters,” said Morton, now 31. “It’s funny, but that’s the only thought I had. I kept thinking, ‘I have to stay alive for them.'” Dr. Dharti Sheth, a surgeon on call at the St. John trauma center recalled seeing the bullet-wound to the abdomen and knew that Kevin’s chance of surving the first 24 hours was barely 10%. The gunshot had pierced his stomach, damaging his large and small intestines and worse it destroyed half his pancreas. Thankfully Kevin did survive the night, but a full recovery would be as arduous as they come. Over the next six weeks, Morton was carefully monitored at the intensive care unit. His weight sank from 160 pounds to 107 due to injuries to his digestive system which made eating impossible. And over the next year the only food Kevin would be able to stomach would be in the form of an IV. “If I were to drink a Pepsi, the Pepsi would gush out of my side,” Morton said. With every setback, Kevin told himself, “This will pass. This will pass.”

Thankfully, Kevin did begin to feel better, and with every day he recovered the nature of his wound helped define his path in life, “This event happened to me, and it (relit) the fire and love for medicine,” Morton said. Before the attack, Morton was on a pre-medical track, with hopes of landing a career in pharmacy, but he didn’t have the time or the money to properly pursue the degree and his grades were suffering from it. Meanwhile, back in the hospital Morton’s doctor, Sheth checked in on his progress and encouraged his former ambition, telling reporters, “He has all the qualities of a good doctor. He has the intellect, the personality, good eye contact, and is very pleasant and easy to talk to. He’s very positive.” The positive reinforcement and pep-talks worked, and Kevin finally graduated Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2016.

After graduation Kevin moved back to his hometown of Warren, Michigan, with his wife and young daughter. And just this fall, he began his medical residency in surgery at the very same place that kept him alive: St. John hospital.

Describing walking down those hospital hallways once again, Kevin recalled, “It was weird walking down those corridors again. They gave me an uneasy feeling.” He continued, “I try to block out the past, as a healing process. But from going through that experience, I feel like I can connect more with my patients.” Congratulations for Kevin’s relentless pursuit of his dream job after nearly being robbed of his entire life. His recovery & career trajectory following the incident serves as an inspiration for us all.