her pulse is better. >> he's strange. he is a genius. and he has autism. would you want him treating you? that's the provocative question behind "the good doctor," the abc series. and tonight, we're going on set and behind the scenes. and now, scrubbing in to meet real-life good doctors, with disabilities. good evening, i'm elizabeth varg vargas. here in a trauma bay of a hospital, a place none of us

ever hopes to be. a place we hope will have the best doctor possible taking care of us. but what if that doctor can't see or hear or walk? >> you're pretty tall. >> i thought there is no way i can stand at an operating room table. >> would you feel comfortable trusting that doctor with your life? have you ever had a single patient tell you, i don't want you treating me? what about a doctor forced to improvise? >> you can't be back here. >> i need a knife. >> that's just another day in the office on mt. everest. saving a client's life with whatever she had on hand or foot. >> were just making it up as you were going? >> i have to throw everything at this guy. he was dying. >> tonight, you will see that sometimes the smallest differences can make all the difference. "the good doctors:brilliance and brave brave bravery." >> i need to get to san jose hospital. lower amplitude means lower

voltage. >> he's the hero like any other. a brilliant visionary surgeon. >> that won't be enough to relieve the outlove of structure. who just happens to have autism and his condition leads to strokes of medical genius. but also, moments of awkwardness and alienation. >> why are we talking about that here? >> there's the prejudice of a hospital board and staff. >> surgeon needs to communicate. can dr. murphy do that? >> i'm done bribing and i'm done talking. let's go! >> no, no, no.

>> reporter: this may be the first time a doctor with a severe disability is the lead of a primetime drama, but it's certainly not the first time such a doctor has put on scrubs in real life. imagine if your doctor couldn't see? dr. tim cordes of wisconsin is blind, but he's able to identify irregular heartbeats without a stethoscope because of his advanced hearing. what if your doctor who couldn't hear? dr. philip zazove of michigan is deaf, but he's able to use a stethoscope because he's hypersensitive to vibration. he also reads lips to communicate. >> this locks in the knees. they are both locked in place. >> those two? >> reporter: or, how would you react if you thought your surgeon was unable to stand over the operating table? >> and i have a belt in here. >> reporter: before you answer, meet dr. chris mcculloh of the morristown medical center in new jersey. >> wow! >> reporter: his $20,000

standing wheelchair is a feat of engineering. >> i didn't know, chris, but you're pretty tall. >> i'm 6'3", but that actually becomes more of a challenge. >> reporter: enabling this third-year general surgery resident to do something so remarkable, only a handful of paralyzed doctors in the country can do it -- stand. >> how many times a day do you do this? >> five, six times a day. >> reporter: chris had always wanted to be a surgeon, but his medical career was almost over before it began. >> i had already been accepted to medical school. >> what happened? >> i was standing up from being seated at my desk. and i slipped, and my whole body went up and i came crashing down. i'm 6'3", 200 pounds of me landed on the edge of a thick glass coffee table. my head snapped backwards and i broke the vertebra in my neck. i knew when i couldn't move my legs that something was wrong. in the back of my mind i was, i was yelling please don't let me be paralyzed, i'd rather be dead. >> really, you actually thought that?

i thought my life was over. >> reporter: the one-time avid skier underwent months of rehabilitation, strengthening his body, rebuilding his resolve. >> when i got to rehab they said, you're probably never going to walk again, and i said, oh, they don't know what they're talking about. >> reporter: chris made it through medical school, and eventually learned that his so-called disability actually plays to his advantage. >> he comes into the room at a level that's more of a patient's level. >> you mean, literally? >> at eye level. and that helps a lot. >> reporter: in fact, one study suggests patients perceive doctors to be giving them more quality time when the doctor is sitting during consults, instead of standing. >> so you think the fact that he's lower, actually, really helps. >> i think the fact that he's lower and -- and a lot of it is his innate personality. >> reporter: but right now, it's all about chris's skill as a surgeon, not his bedside manner. we watch as he heads in to assist on a double mastectomy

supported by his hydraulic wheelchair. >> it levels the playing field. i can get to everyone's level and get to the table just like everyone else. i don't want to be treated differently than anybody else or ask for any different accommodations or ask for anyone to do things differently. >> so, this thing allowed your dreams to come true? >> it did. it absolutely did. you look a lot. better than you did last week. i think it certainly gives me the opportunity to connect with patients. they look and they can see very visibly that i've been in the bed. i know what's like. >> you're a nice kid, and you're very smart, but you don't belong here. >> how many times was that said to you? >> more than i can count. >> reporter: tyler sexton's journey from patient to doctor has been one long uphill battle. he suffers from spastic diplegia. it is a form of cerebral palsy, a chronic neuromuscular condition that affects balance, as well as movement below the

but, his condition affects more than his legs. does the disease also affect your eyes? >> there's no visual impairment at all but, there is a lazy eye is the common term. so, yes. >> reporter: an obstacle that has tripped up this good doctor since he was born six weeks premature. >> the doctor called us in and he said he will definitely be physically disabled and may never get out of a wheelchair. he will probably be mentally disabled. >> doctors would tell me that i wouldn't amount to anything. that i could sharpen pencils for a living. >> doctors told you that? >> yes. >> reporter: when tyler was 3, he got his first walker but he still had trouble keeping his balance. >> you broke bones because you fell so much. >> correct. i've broken almost every bone in my body. major bones, from knees to wrists, to ankles, all my

six times a day. >> reporter: but, instead of giving up, he kept getting up. needing help with his own two legs, he turned to someone with four, this is danny, tyler's service dog. >> so you're using his body weight to keep yourself from falling? >> correct. because the way i walk my body, is it goes back and forth. it keeps me controlled. i can go slow, go up and downstairs. >> reporter: tyler says there were years growing up when the teasing was relentless. >> it got so bad i would pretend that i was blind, and nobody would mess with the blind guy. >> reporter: tyler says he could handle the taunts from other kids, but the discouragement from adults is what threw him off balance. >> i had an interview at this medical school, and he looked at me. he said, "you will never be a doctor." and i said, "why?" he said, "because they won't come to you." >> did you start to rethink your commitment to becoming a doctor? >> i will tell you that i was broken. >> reporter: broken but not beaten, he applied to a dozen medical schools in the united states, and despite having straight a's, every single school rejected him.

still, he refused to accept that patients would shun him. he just needed that degree. >> you did manage to get into a medical school -- >> i did. >> -- outside the country. >> i did. i went to the university of sint eustatius school of medicine on an island of statia. >> reporter: a small medical school in the middle of the caribbean. tyler graduated in 2011, and was surprised when a hospital back in the states was willing to take him on for his residency. the kind of support dr. shaun murphy finds in "the good doctor." >> we hire shaun, and we make this hospital better for it. we hire shaun and we are better people for it. >> i could give you a list of the doctors that did believe in me. the good doctors. >> how in the world medical schools passed on him, is incomprehensible. it's a shame because they missed out on a rock star. >> reporter: now the head of pediatrics at this hospital in mississippi, tyler says most of his patients a

special needs of their own, they've never objected to a doctor with a service dog. and as for those college advisers who told him people would not want him as their doctor. >> have you ever had a single patient tell you, "i don't want you treating me"? >> never. not once. matter of fact, they ask for me. >> without dr. sexton we don't know where we'd be. we were so grateful to find him. dr. sexton is a pediatric god. >> reporter: to make his young patients feel at ease, he wears superhero t-shirts. >> do you have one of those t-shirts on every single day? >> every day. and i teach kids that they're something special and they're super. we're all handicapped. mine, the world can see, but we're all struggling with something, and my disability gives me credibility. action! coming up next -- the very good actor. who's become the good doctor. >> one that comes with a bright responsibility to ptr

an authentically as possible. we're taking you behind the scenes. >> i think shaun could co-exist in the real world. we'll be right back. ♪ hello again. hi. ♪ ♪ get up to $400 towards a galaxy note8 or s8 with qualifying trade-in. only on samsung.com your body was made for better things than rheumatiod arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra

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wide open, please. it's the provocative role that has everyone talking. a young surgical resident with autism. struggling to succeed in a pay jar hospital. playing the role of dr. shaun murphy has brought acclaimed for act actor, earning

in tv drama. >> i think people have responded to shaun's optimism, to his hopeful outlook on the world. the fact that he's not judgmental. >> reporter: you've first met the 25-year-old english actor as a boy when he landed a key role in the movie "finding neverland." >> thank you. >> reporter: he turned to a darker more adult role with his star turn as norman bates in the a and e drama "bates motel." for his latest role, he said he found the opportunity to play the complexing demanding role dr. shaun murphy to be an irresistible challenge.

>> a great responsibility to portray him as awe thennicly as possible. with regards tos his autism. >> reporter: that commitment to authenticity is evident here behind the scenes of the good doctor in vancouver, canada. he rehearses for an upcoming scene with his actors. to replicate a real working hospital. >> i'm dr. shaun murphy. i'm a surgical resident. >> reporter: that attention to accuracy is seen in st. bonaventure o.r. where dr. clair brown. >> something's wrong. >> reporter: is rehearsing for a surgery scene. a medical consultant is

to make every procedure is performed by the book. >> hello, i'm dr. shaun murphy. i'm a surgical resident. >> reporter: but when it comes to portrayal of a doctor with autism, is the good doctor truly accurate? one aspect of the show that some might find hard to swallow is when dr. murphy performs an incredible feat of die know ses that shows him remembering intricate past. >> the shaun vision, trying to get inside his mind and see how his experiencing a particular moment. >> there tends to be one area they're practically gifted and skilled in. >> reporter: she says those stroke of diagnosing genius is entirely possible for a person with autism. >> one

information differently they're really good at pattern recognition or picking up on patterns. >> less intrusive cut. >> for dr. murphy it's able to put together this picture and figure out what's going on in an out of box sort of way. >> many documented cases of people with savant. a man named kim peak who inspired the movie "rain man." here dustin hoffman shows how his character uses his ability to instantly count hundreds of objects to cheat at cards. >> there are lots of them? >> very big. >> reporter: but there can be a flip side to that kind of genius. and awkwardness with social interaction. this is perhaps the greatest challenge facing the character of dr. shaun murphy, who lacks anything approaching a typical bed seidl nn

a malignant tumor. it's definitely malignant. if it weren't malignant zmrsh more typical of a person on a spectrum. it's not that he doesn't have empathy, it's more challenging and a little bit more difficult to put themselves in another person's shoes. >> it doesn't shy away from fully embracing shaun's persona. >> part of my weirdness is that i keep thinking about things. >> reporter: as seen in the mid season finale. where he has a meltdown. >> the unfortunate truth is that shaun like everyone else will make mistakes and that will be heartbreaking when they have more severe consequences. >> reporter: in the end, he

real itselfic portrayal can make people think twice about those with autism can achieve in work place. >> i think shaun could of course exist in the real world. he's not a caricature. i'm sure there's shaun out there in the world. next, he can turn an airline terminal into makeshift o.r. she can do the same on the side of mt. everest. saving a life. >> i felt like he's going to die. >> with make-do medicine. >> we used viagara. >> viagara? >> when we come back. and i quit smoking with chantix. i tried, um, cold turkey. i tried the patches. i was tired and i was fed up. i wanted to try something different. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. compared to the nicotine patch, chantix helped significantly more people quit smoking.

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>> reporter: when a fluke airport accident nearly takes a young boy's life, dr. murphy springs into action. >> excuse me. >> reporter: with no available surgical tools, he's forced to rely on what he can find -- a box cutter for a scalpel, some duty-free bourbon for sterilization, and plastic tubing and a bottle fashioned into a pump, saving a boy from a

collapsed lung. >> he saved his life. >> one of the things that makes shaun appealing is his ability to think on his feet and come up with solutions that others and others in hospital don't necessarily see. it also gives him insight. >> reporter: that singular skill is known as "improvised medicine" and dr. luanne freer is one of the few real-world physicians who make it their practice. >> there are just a handful of us physicians who find this great challenge and it's just a real turn-on to be able to macgyver, you know, a way to deal with an emergency. how to get somebody better when you don't have all the equipment. >> reporter: here at mt. everest, the world's tallest, and deadliest mountain, known to locals as "goddess mother of the world," sits a tented in

medical improvisation is a must. dr. luanne freer has acquired the skills of a virtuoso. freer, a wilderness enthusiast, launched this place 14 years ago. it sits nearly 18,000 feet high on the side of the mountain and it's open two months each spring, when hundreds of people come from around the world, to try and summit mt. everest. in her time, freer has fashioned a stretcher from coiled rope a tarp. she's set broken bones with trekking poles. >> too much pain? >> reporter: she's even extracted teeth with pliers from local sherpa guides. >> yeah, it's pretty rooted in there. >> reporter: but it's the visiting climbers who usually need the most serious attention. this is a deadly and has been a deadly adventure for many people. >> tragedies happen every year,

live in this austere environment. there's no oxygen, the conditions are brutal. >> reporter: so brutal that nearing the 29,029-foot summit, oxygen ceases to exist. it's an area called the death zone. by far the greatest risk to climbers is high altitude pulmonary edema -- or hape -- reduced oxygen in the air causes some blood vessels in the lungs to dangerously constrict. the pressure causes those vessels to leak, filling the airways with blood, making breathing difficult, even impossible. but perhaps dr. freer's greatest macgyver episode happened when she crossed paths with joe and liz hughes. avid mountaineers, the couple met while climbing a mountain in south africa. -- south america. although deny it was "love at first height."

it was friendship -- >> yes. >> it was a kindred spirit. you're doing something that's very dangerous. we watched out for each other. >> reporter: both were experienced climbers. they felt like they were destined to be together, though it also seemed they would never hear little footsteps behind them. >> you didn't even think you could get pregnant -- >> no, it wasn't supposed to be in the cards for me. >> reporter: but conquering mt. everest was, and the couple vowed to do it as a team. >> it can be the most incredible experience but it -- it's also a killer. people die there. >> yes. >> were you fully aware of the risks? did it make you give -- give it a second thought at all? >> of course, there's always, you know, doubt and some fear, but i was up for the challenge and i was ready to do it. >> you gamed the risks and figured out this -- >> exactly. >> is worth the risk? >> it's worth the risk. >> reporter: after six months of intensive training, they set off in the spring of 2004. their plans quickly went awry. >> when was the first time you met

>> they came to meet me because they were concerned because liz kept getting dizzy and passing out. >> what did you think as you examined her and talked to her? >> i thought, "wow, we better just make sure that you couldn't be pregnant 'cause pregnancy can cause you to feel a little bit dizzy and woozy." >> she diagnosed me pregnant on the mountain. >> and you had no idea -- >> no idea. >> and it shocks me to this day to even think about it, yeah. >> wow. >> reporter: the news, thrilling. the timing, not so much. about to be a mother, liz knew this climb of a lifetime was over. >> did you tell her she should descend immediately? >> i did. we both cried a little bit. >> reporter: joe was so overjoyed, he proposed on the spot. >> i said, "do you want me to come?" and she was like, "no, i can't let this stop your life's dream." >> reporter: as liz headed home to the states, joe pushed on, scaling 21,000 feet up the side

of mt. everest. 8,000 more to go before he can claim victory. along the way, he had been making recordings for students back home who were following his everest adventure. >> for the past four days we've been sitting in base camp and it feels like forever. when you sit you get weaker, your muscles start to get tight. >> reporter: now, suddenly feeling weak he makes what would be his last dispatch. >> but i dig deep. i pushed so hard that i collapsed. and this morning all i want to do is sleep. >> all of a sudden, i'm feeling like i can't breathe. i'm feeling tired. i feel like i'm working hard. but in my mind, i'm climbing mt. everest. you're supposed to feel like this. >> reporter: a film crew on the mountain turns its lens on joe who can no longer walk without help. tantalizingly close to the summit, his lifelong dream slips away as an emergency call goes out.

>> american climber joe hughes has to be helped and often carried down over 5,000 vertical feet past the treacherous khumbu icefall. >> we got reports from other climbers who past him on the icefalls, that this guy doesn't look so goods. >> reporter: fearing the worst, luanne sends sherpas with a stretcher to help bring joe down the mountain. blood is beginning to flood joe's lungs, his life is slipping away, but instead of being wheeled into a hospital he's being carried into a tent. it will require the daring, improvisational medicine of dr. freer and a big dose of good fortune for joe to make it home alive. stay with us. ♪ you are a city city wall, city wall ♪ ♪ ♪ she could be dancing down a hall, dancing down a hall ♪

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reporter: joe hughes never thought he'd be here inside of a clinic, on the face of mt. everest. suffering from high altitude pulmonary edema, with his new fiancee and unborn child. waiting for him to come home. >> the calls stopped and i was trying not to think the worst. >> reporter: there's only one person who can save him, dr. luanne freer, and from her makeshift everest e.r., she's about to give a master class in medical improvisation documented by a film crew. what was his condition when he finally did arrive, carried into your tent? >> he -- he was gravely ill. he was blue, he was gasping to breathe. you could hear the bubbling in his chest without a stethoscope because blood is literally leaking into the -- >> reporter: pooling in his own lungs? >> in -- in your lungs, yeah. >> and you can eventually drown? >> right, people drown in their own blood. and -- and it's the most common cause of death at high altitude.

>> reporter: now, dr. freer is scrambling to figure out what to do, and the situation is becoming more dire by the moment. >> more o2. >> what's that? >> more o2. >> he was the closest to death i've ever seen of somebody with high altitude pulmonary edema. >> what's the normal treatment for it? >> high flow oxygen will help reverse the process. unfortunately, in austere settings, you don't have unlimited oxygen. >> what kind of medications did you give him? >> we gave him everything i could think of that could decrease the blood pressure in the lung. >> reporter: her skills pushed to limits even dr. shaun murphy would find daunting. >> i was wrong. >> he tried. >> i was wrong. your parents hate me. >> i know. >> reporter: were you just making it up as you were going? >> a little bit. at that point, i felt like, you know, we got to throw everything at this guy. he's going

little blue pill that's come to many a man's assistance. >> we used viagra. >> viagra? >> yeah. viagra was first developed as a medication to decrease blood pressure in the lungs. >> oh, really? >> and then its more lucrative side benefit became known. >> reporter: in this situation, joe needs a pill every six hours. did it work? >> it did. >> somebody might ask, why did you have viagra on mt. everest? >> we had it specifically for that -- because we knew we had limited supplies of oxygen. >> reporter: but there was still the matter of joe's severe dehydration. he urgently needs iv fluids and in the zero-degree, spring temperatures of everest that night, that's a tall order, especially when the tent's power generator briefly goes down. how did you keep the iv liquids from freezing? >> that's been something that took m

figure out. this is the fluid we've just warmed it up. in a pan of hot water, and it's going to freeze, and we want to minimize the heat loss so what we improvise is putting it through the sleeve of a friend. >> oh, so then, the tubing runs along their body. >> right, everybody's wearing down-jackets, and why not use this body heat that's trapped in the down-jackets. >> reporter: the iv had worked but joe wasn't out of danger yet. >> i turned around to the expedition leader and i said start working on a helicopter. he needs to go to somebody who treats high altitude pulmonary edema. >> reporter: as night turns to day, joe desperately needs to get to a hospital. but, a helicopter rescue at that altitude is impossible, the air is too thin. so the sherpas must improvise as well, on dr. freer's request, they take turns carrying joe 5,000 feet down the mountain, where he can be safely flown to the nearest hospital before returning to liz.

>> i have told luanne many times i would be raising my daughter alone if it wasn't for her. >> reporter: his life had been spared that night on the deadly mountain by the heroics a savvy, quick-thinking wilderness doctor, unafraid to think out of the box. >> what she was able to do and what she was able to come up with is not part of medical training. that's instinct. that's on par with the ability to, you know, rescue a soldier. >> reporter: nine months later, the hughes family had a chance to express its appreciation. you named your daughter after -- >> yes, absolutely. >> the woman who saved your life. >> absolutely. >> reporter: tara "luanne" is now a spirited 12-year-old. she's grown up immersed in the folklore of her parents' journey to mt. everest. hoping one day to have the chance to embrace her namesake. >> i think i am going to be at a loss for words because it will be the first time seeing the woman who saved my dad's life and the woman who told my mom

she was pregnant with me. >> reporter: this week "20/20" brought everyone together. >> oh, wait. >> hi. >> come here. >> thank you. >> i love you. >> yep, yep, this is my little family. >> we didn't see this coming. did we? >> no. next, childhood tragedy turns shaun murphy into a doctor. her sister's tragedy turned debbie yee into one, too. >> she was hit by a train. >> but you won't believe the bizarre coincidence that happened later in the e.r. watch me. ♪

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you didn't listen to dr. murphy because you don't respect him. because dr. murphy is different. >> reporter: yes, dr. shaun murphy is different. >>. >> you got to be fierce if you want the glory. >> i don't want the glory, i just want to be a good surgeon. >> reporter: but in another sense he's exactly like so many others --- compelled to pursue a career in medicine by the pain of searing personal tragedies. >> the day that the rain smelled like ice cream. >> reporter: first, the loss of his beloved pet. >> my bunny went to heaven. the day that the copper pipes in

burnt food, my brother went to heaven. i think there's the obvious and tragic death of his brother that was in many ways an ins gator for him. neither one had a chance to become an adult. and i want him to make that possible for other people. >> reporter: the way murphy reveals his motivation is dramatic, but channeling personal tragedy into professional choice is, in fact, not all that unusual. >> my inspiration to become a physician assistant is actually my brother, jesse peetz. in 2005, he was stricken with viral meningitis. >> so when i was 13 years old, i was at a family event where my cousin's husband suddenly collapsed in front of us, in the living room. >> my father was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. and before my dad passed away, he told me that he thought i had a gift for nursing. and he told me that i had healing hands. >> reporter: but of all the st

debbie yi follows a path like no other. today, she's an emergency room doctor at university of california, san francisco. the personal and painful history that got her here began here, 14 years ago. debbie was sharing a new york city apartment with her sister and best friend, christine. debbie had recently been working as an investment banking analyst when she got some terrifying news. >> my sister, christine, was in a terrible accident. she was hit by a train -- a subway train in new york. she tripped on the subway platform and landed in the area between two subway cars. and the train began to drive away and she was still on the track. >> her heart stopped at one point? >> yes, her heart stopped. she stopped breathing. and a surgical intern provided breaths to her and brought her back to life. >> reporter: dr. toni mclaurin

was the orthopedic surgeon on call when christine arrived, her right leg was completely shattered below the knee. >> she had an injury that we sort of refer to as a "mangled extremity." it tells you that not only is the bone broken, but there's also been significant damage to the skin as well as to the, you know, the muscles surrounding the bone. >> reporter: what do you remember about the accident that day? >> fortunately, i don't actually remember very much. i remember leaving my office that day. and the next thing i remember is being in the dark, in a lot of pain, and someone calling out to me, telling me that help was on the way. >> it was after her surgery and she asked me why she felt like she couldn't wiggle her toes. >> what did you tell her? >> i think that there's no room for sugarcoating things in times like this. and i told her, you were in a terrible accident. and you lost your leg.

>> that had to have been devastating. >> i think i was on a lot of medication. and i said it's okay, my legs weren't that long anyway. >> you made jokes? >> i didn't realize how hard it would be at the time. i was just happy that i was alive. >> reporter: the next five weeks were a blur of surgeries -- 15 in total. many aimed at saving her knee. if you had lost that that knee, what impact would that have had? >> the prosthetic leg for an above-knee amputee doesn't always work. so, it was a huge deal for me to keep my knee. >> reporter: when discharge day finally came, christine was happy to leave the hospital, debbie, however, had decided to spend her life in one. >> after my sister's accident, i realized, i have a greater purpose in life. >> reporter: debbie decided to become a doctor like the ones whsa

you not only chose medicine, but you chose trauma. >> any chest pain or trouble breathing? >> why choose that particular path? >> i remember the first time an ambulance came, you know, pushing through, into the emergency room. i remember that feeling i had. i felt like i was reliving what it was like to be in the emergency room when my sister arrived. >> reporter: during her residency in new york, the abc medical documentary "new york med" followed dr. yi, as she tended to a patient who had been shot. >> can you squeeze your hand for me, honey? good. >> reporter: saved by a man who'd been attacked by someone wielding a machete. >> and treated a woman who was pregnant. >> did you actually pass out today? this is why we go into emergency medicine. i've seen, you know, probably

about 4,000 patients now. how are you feeling? >> much better. >> without fail, whenever i have a patient like this, i will be smiling for the rest of the night. >> reporter: then, a stunning coincidence. >> debbie -- >> train versus human being. >> reporter: dr. yi, urgently called to treat a patient with traumatic injuries from a subway accident. >> we just activated trauma. >> reporter: what was that like for you in that moment? >> for his safety and his own -- >> to actually have a patient come in to the emergency room with injuries so similar to what your sister experienced. >> when i saw that patient, i knew that i had to take my best care of the patient and the patient had to live. >> you're very lucky to be alive. >> reporter: her sister's accident continues to define debbie, to drive her. >> i want to provide the best for my patients. and i consider that to be my thank you to all the medical staff who took care of my sister.

>> reporter: yet, for christine, a different choice -- a determination to put her pain in the past. that's christine, furiously spinning beside me at her favorite spinning class. her prosthetic leg not slowing her down one bit. >> christine, look at you. you're pushing the whole time. >> reporter: through all the blood, sweat and tears, the sisters' bond is unbroken. life moves forward. the wheel keeps spinning. next, the military man who

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severed at the elbow as well. without a medic there to have morphine, there was no sort of pain medication, so the only thing i could do was scream. by the time i was brought to the trauma bay, they'd revived me, what i found out then was that the real nightmare was just beginning. even with the most loving, supporting family, friends and community behind me, i was the one that was there in the middle of the night staring at the clock, in pain, in tears, wondering when or if it'll ever get better. with time, eventually, the pain started to settle. i regained my strength. i started to regain my mobility. and as i regained my mobility, i started regained my independence. having over 50 surgeries hundreds of hours of physical therapy months on end as an inpatient in the hospital. not only did i want to practice medicine, but it -- it strengthened my resolve to do it. over two years, i ended up taking 18 courses.

in march of this year 2017, i got the acceptance that i was hoping to get to my number one school of choice. that was harvard medical school. it's where i met a girl jasmine who eventually is today my fiancee and planning a wedding for next year. so, even though i've gone through this journey, i mean, it's not lost on me how unbelievable this ride has been and how lucky i am to be here. be patient with difficult times and even when things may be getting worse for a little while, just be patient and stick to it. >> so many incredible real stories of survival. so many good doctors. "the good doctor" airs monday, 10:00, 9:00 p.m. central. that's our show tonight. i'm elizabeth vargas. thanks so much for joining us. have a great night.

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