After fighting for his life when he was shot in a random robbery nearly nine years ago, this Michigan man just graduated from medical school and will start a residency at the same hospital where he was treated.

Kevin Morton, Jr. was a 22-year-old college student leaving his late-night manager’s shift at Arby’s when someone shot him. Surviving five surgeries and 58 days in the hospital, this ordeal inspired him to become a physician himself.

Doctors expected the worst while Morton was in the hospital. His father, Kevin Morton, Sr., told The Detroit News, “I never prayed so hard in my life. My son never did anything wrong. I couldn’t believe some stranger was going to steal his life in the middle of the night. There is no doubt he was left here to save somebody else’s life like his was.”

Dr. Dharti Sheth-Zelmanski helped save Morton’s life, and now Morton wants to do the same for others. He said, “I want to be there for someone else, and keep paying it forward. If I am ever in that situation, I hope God gives me the necessary skills, confidence and steady hands to save someone’s life, like Dr. Sheth did for me.”

Sheth-Zelmanski was one of Morton’s supporters who attended his graduation from Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine last week. “He has such a strong will and such determination,” she said, “He could have said, ‘Look at my injuries. I am going to go on disability.’ But he said, ‘No, I am going to do better than that.’ He’s the hero in this. He’s the true inspiration.”

Morton initially had no intentions of becoming a doctor and wanted to get a job in the pharmaceutical industry. But during his long stay in the hospital, he developed a bond with Sheth-Zelmanski that got him thinking about how he could help someone whose body is in trauma.

Morton’s story was featured this week on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt as well.

Good luck to Kevin as he starts his residency at Detroit’s St. John’s Hospital, where he was treated in the trauma unit.

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Detroit man saved by doctor

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