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UP neurosurgeon’s life an example of strength, perseverance

Becoming a neurosurgeon requires years of study and hard work, and then staying a successful one means more effort. After all, there’s a reason people jokingly say, “It’s not brain surgery.”

That implies that people who are brain surgeons are highly skilled, accomplished professionals.

To obtain such a standing is admirable, but to do so after overcoming a horrendous background is even more commendable.

One of the prime local examples of someone achieving great things when things weren’t going their way, to put it lightly, was Dr. Adam Brish. Believed to be the Upper Peninsula’s first neurosurgeon, Brish, who in recent years divided his time between Marquette and Sun City West, Arizona, died in Arizona on Sept. 11 at age 93.

Brish was a Holocaust survivor who was born in Lodz, Poland. He and his father hid in the Lodz ghetto until being liberated by the Russians at the end of World War II, subsisting on meager rations and hiding in a gardener’s shed.

However, Brish emerged from that experience by earning a medical degree and serving with the Israeli Defense Forces, ultimately relocating to Marquette in 1966 and spending the remainder of his career as neurosurgeon at what was then Marquette General Hospital. He also was owner/operator of Neurological Surgery Associates.

A good attitude undoubtedly played a big part in Brish’s transition from a Holocaust survivor to a neurosurgeon. His son, Harry, said his father believed in doing the right thing, even when it wasn’t getting noticed.

Fortunately, most people didn’t have to experience the Holocaust first-hand, with their knowledge of this horrible time in history coming from books and movies.

Perhaps having endured living in the Lodz ghetto shaped Adam Brish’s outlook on life in the ensuing years, with difficult life circumstances paling in comparison.

Being a Holocaust survivor certainly didn’t prevent him from achieving professional success and raising a family along the way.

That could be a lesson everyone can take from the life of Adam Brish. No matter what happens, people can move forward and make each day better than the day before.

They don’t have to become brain surgeons; they just can be better, happier people.

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