Teens Saved At JMH Celebrate Hospital's No. 1 Ranking
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Two teens, both whose lives were saved at Jackson Memorial Hospital, will attend the hospital's celebration of being named, by U.S. News & World Report, the number one hospital in South Florida.
Aaron Willis, 15, and Yasser Lopez, 17, both critically injured patients treated at JMH, will join the hospital's CEO Carlos A. Migoya at an employee rally to celebrate the ranking, according to the hospital.
Willis, 15, was shot in the back while riding his bike in Wynwood by a gunman in a car days before Christmas of 2012. The bullet, which struck Willis's spinal cord, left him paralyzed.
Willis, who has since received attention for his strength and attitude despite the accident, is still actively involved in Jackson's recreation therapy program and is learning to live an independent life in a wheelchair. In August, Willis will be returning to school for the first time since the accident.
Lopez's life was on the line in June 2012 when, during fishing excursion with a friend, was accidentally shot in the head with a three-foot long spear fired from a spear gun. The spear went all the way through his forehead to the back of his skull.
Lopez was treated at Ryder Trauma Center where a team of University of Miami and Jackson neurosurgeons performed a four-hour surgery to remove the spear. He continues physical, occupational and speech therapy at Jackson Rehabilitation Hospital.
The magazine ranks hospitals based on the number of nationally ranked specialties and high performing specialties. Also ranked was Baptist Hospital, number two, South Miami Hospital came in third and Mount Sinai Medical Center ranked fourth.
