Damon Walker had just left a party and was standing near Baltimore's Hamburg Street Bridge on New Year's Day morning in 1996 when he was robbed and shot. Dr. Michael Franks, a medical student at the University of Maryland at the time, was also leaving a party when he took the wrong way, heard gunshots, and saw a disturbance. A man had been shot and was lying in the street.
Given Walker's severe condition, Frank knew he couldn't afford to wait 10 to 15 minutes for an ambulance. As a result, Frank gave it his all. He hurried him to Shock Trauma, which was only a few minutes away. Frank then gave the police a statement and went on his way.
Walker was grateful to be alive despite being paralyzed by the shooting. He eventually went on to work as a violence specialist at a Baltimore hospital. Walker searched the internet for years to find the man who saved his life and was finally successful in doing so. Frank is a physician at Virginia Urology in Richmond, Virginia, who specializes in cancer therapy. The two men met again and bonded as if they were old friends.
Photo by: Barry Simms