I had a thought in mind, sort of a short story, medically related but can be applied to other situations as well:
A teenage boy was diagnosed some lesion in his head. To remove it requires a surgery with unpredictable risks and minimal chances of recovery. So the parents of the child had decided that they are not going to proceed with surgery and just let their son live the way he wanted to, to try out everything he could that life could offer. No one knows when he would just go off so it's better for him to get what he wants.
This boy had reached a state of acceptance where he no longer denies his disease and decided to live his life to the fullest. He went traveling all around the world (parents are quite loaded with $$), did some adrenalin pumping outdoor sports (since he couldn't get the chance to do it back then) like bungee jumping, skydiving, skiing and so on.
It was a particular holiday trip to one of the countries where he tried bungee jumping. He loves traveling to different places in the world to bungee jump. On that particular day, nothing seems wrong about anything. When he jumped off the bridge with the rope attached to his leg, his mind was clear and at peace, but only to realise that the nightmare is going to start. The rope snapped on him and instead of retracting him back up, he continued free falling. Most bungee jump places are built around lakes and rivers and this is no exception. Knowing that he is going to hit the water soon, he prepared himself for diving in to the water. Well, he survived the jump but suffered some minor fractures on his arm.
Just to be save, he was sent to a hospital for a full thorough scan to make sure everything is all right. And the scan showed that he did not suffered from any terminal illness in his head at all, it was wrongly diagnosed as something serious. Well hell ya the parents got so mad and pissed off with this. They had a legal document ready for that doctor to blame. They had spent so much and worried so much, there must be justice and compensation to that.
The boy was thinking to himself for a moment and then talked into his parents about dropping those charges against the doctor and his practice. Well what was he thinking about???
You see, in his perspective,
''I tried bungee jumping in so many places so many times, and others have tried that too. In the whole lifetime of a bungee jumping rope, it may serve maybe a couple hundreds of people before it decides to fail on one. And I happened to be that unlucky one. So do I quit on bungee jumping just because of that, no, I still love bungee jumping. And if this bungee rope is faulty, would I still trust in the company that manufacture it, yes because there are certain quality controls that have been carried out to ensure its safety and durability. Since I am giving this sport a second chance, why not give this doctor a second chance.''
A doctor, in his lifetime, does make mistake but its part and puzzle of life, like some have quoted, you learn through your mistakes. Just because he had done one mistake, I chose to snatch his license off him just like that. Well, if he is doing the same mistakes over and over again, or he did several mistakes, there must be something wrong with the quality control and some quality inspection must be carried out. But one out of the blue mistakes and I take his license away, is like making the company that produce the bungee rope bankrupt and completely disappear.
Just for a thought that was occurring while I was on my way back home from a clinic in the bus. Self reflection moment.
