‘Dr. Deep Breath’: Honoring a Local Life-Saving Team

On April 7, 1996, Hong Mizelle was involved in a life-threatening car crash in Dunwoody. Mizelle spent the next three months in recovery, treated by many different specialists she credits with saving her life.

“They worked together, performed an eight-hour surgery, and snatched me back from the clutches of death. I lost my right kidney and part of my liver. They gave me the second life,” Mizelle explained.

In the years that followed, Mizelle met her husband and welcomed a son. Describing her thirties as a “second life” after the accident, she pursued a career at the post office in Winston-Salem, N.C. She centered what she calls a “pay it forward” mindset in both her professional and personal life. Mizelle aimed to put more good into the world with her second chance, typically through volunteer work in her local community.

This past April, 30 years after the accident, Mizelle found herself coming back to a persistent desire to express gratitude directly to the doctors who saved her life, “When I retired, I thought, I have to do this. It is my wish – so I think, how can I find them?”

Mizelle began an Internet search to reconnect with the doctors, grateful to her mother, who had taken detailed daily notes while Mizelle was recovering in the hospital.

Numerous phone calls and Facebook messages eventually led her to Dr. Paul Scheinberg. Even after three decades, Scheinberg was immediately reminded of Mizelle’s case when she referred to him in a message as “Dr. Deep Breath.”

“As a pulmonologist, I always have to ask people, take a deep breath. And I see lots of international patients, and so, over the years, I’ve learned to say, take a deep breath in probably about 30 languages,” Dr. Scheinberg shared. “When she said, Dr. Deep Breath, I know that she’s the one who I probably asked, ‘How do you say take a deep breath in Mandarin Chinese?’”

Dr. Scheinberg then joined her in searching for and connecting with others on her recovery team.

Mizelle eventually contacted Dr. Howard Goldberg and Dr. Alvaro Lopez and invited them, along with Scheinberg, to a luncheon in Johns Creek. Barbara Abend, wife of Dr. Melvin Abend, was also in attendance. Dr. Melvin Abend, Mizelle’s surgeon, had unfortunately passed away in 2011, but the group still honored him by visiting his headstone and expressing gratitude to Mrs. Abend.

The group gathered at Masterpiece Chinese Cuisine, and Mizelle decked the space out for the occasion. She created a posterboard with photos of the doctors, details of her gratitude, and what she had accomplished since they had saved her. Furthermore, she created custom plaques for each doctor, calling them superheroes.

Dr. Scheinberg commented on the recognition, “I was full of gratitude. If anything, people write a note sometimes right afterwards, but never after 30 years.”

Trying to figure out the right words to say to the doctors, Mizelle crafted eight pages of notes. Barbara Abend commented on Mizelle’s efforts, saying, “You’re the only one to do this, you know,” and was grateful for the honor of her husband.

The group dined on shared dishes and caught up on all that had happened over the past 30 years. Mizelle plans to continue her personal mission of honoring others and has already completed several projects for veterans in her community. Her son currently serves in the U.S. Marine Corps, which Mizelle calls the ultimate act of paying it forward.

“I am thankful for my precious life every day. Sometimes it feels unreal. Was that really me going through it and having 30 productive years living in America? But it is real, amazing, and lucky me!”