David Ghiyam

And a man had dove off a wall drunk in the Keys, Florida Keys, broken his neck, brought him up to South Miami Hospital. And my dad had to put tongs, like ice tongs, in his skull. Ice tongs connected to a rope, connected to a pulley, connected to a weight to pull the neck up. To keep him from moving his neck further prior to him being able to go in and then stabilize the fracture.

And a man had dove off a wall drunk in the Keys, Florida Keys, broken his neck, brought him up to South Miami Hospital. And my dad had to put tongs, like ice tongs, in his skull. Ice tongs connected to a rope, connected to a pulley, connected to a weight to pull the neck up. To keep him from moving his neck further prior to him being able to go in and then stabilize the fracture.

So I watched him do that in the emergency room. And then the man's mother and father showed up. and uh i'll never forget the uh interaction that he had with that mother and father i was you know in my early teens and he explained that he had broken his neck and i remember the mother literally almost fell over to the extent that my dad had helped her into a chair and she grabbed her heart

So I watched him do that in the emergency room. And then the man's mother and father showed up. and uh i'll never forget the uh interaction that he had with that mother and father i was you know in my early teens and he explained that he had broken his neck and i remember the mother literally almost fell over to the extent that my dad had helped her into a chair and she grabbed her heart

But the way he dealt with that situation was a horrible situation for the parents to find out. And his son was still drunk, so he was kind of still out of it. I won't forget that. And I won't forget one other moment of compassion.

But the way he dealt with that situation was a horrible situation for the parents to find out. And his son was still drunk, so he was kind of still out of it. I won't forget that. And I won't forget one other moment of compassion.

we were fishing and he caught a small fish that we weren't fishing for and he unhooked it and threw it back in the water and the fish was not doing well and he watched that fish for probably 20 minutes and kept talking to it and saying you can do it you know go back and sometimes when you catch a fish it doesn't do well and I stopped fishing and watched him and heard him.

we were fishing and he caught a small fish that we weren't fishing for and he unhooked it and threw it back in the water and the fish was not doing well and he watched that fish for probably 20 minutes and kept talking to it and saying you can do it you know go back and sometimes when you catch a fish it doesn't do well and I stopped fishing and watched him and heard him.

And finally the fish fluttered and went down. And just that level of compassion, you know, really just had an imprint on me at a time in life when you are imprintable. And I think it's a Dan Fogelberg song that I quoted at his eulogy. I want to go off just for a second. Go ahead. Sorry. Go ahead. So the Dan Vogelberg song in it, it's called the leader of the band.

And finally the fish fluttered and went down. And just that level of compassion, you know, really just had an imprint on me at a time in life when you are imprintable. And I think it's a Dan Fogelberg song that I quoted at his eulogy. I want to go off just for a second. Go ahead. Sorry. Go ahead. So the Dan Vogelberg song in it, it's called the leader of the band.

And he says, my life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man. I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band. And I let that one hang on the audience. Because I've kind of lived my life trying to live up to that. Really? Yeah, I really have. He wasn't perfect, nobody was, but like your father, as you describe in your book, set the bar pretty high. Luckily for us, they did.

And he says, my life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man. I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band. And I let that one hang on the audience. Because I've kind of lived my life trying to live up to that. Really? Yeah, I really have. He wasn't perfect, nobody was, but like your father, as you describe in your book, set the bar pretty high. Luckily for us, they did.

And that wasn't their mission, but they did by example.

And that wasn't their mission, but they did by example.

The notion of noblesse oblige that John Kennedy talked about. It basically means that if you're gifted and we all are, whatever that gift is, you're obligated to use that gift in a way that serves humanity. You know, I get the message that I'm pretty clever about certain things. I know that at this stage of life.

The notion of noblesse oblige that John Kennedy talked about. It basically means that if you're gifted and we all are, whatever that gift is, you're obligated to use that gift in a way that serves humanity. You know, I get the message that I'm pretty clever about certain things. I know that at this stage of life.

I'm going to be 70, so I can say that I've understood that over the years that I have a pretty good brain and it has allowed me to do the things that I've done, to accomplish the things I have accomplished. But to accomplish things for accomplishment's sake is one thing, but to accomplish things that fulfill your obligation to others, we are obligated.

I'm going to be 70, so I can say that I've understood that over the years that I have a pretty good brain and it has allowed me to do the things that I've done, to accomplish the things I have accomplished. But to accomplish things for accomplishment's sake is one thing, but to accomplish things that fulfill your obligation to others, we are obligated.

I think is a task that he charged me with by letting me know about that notion. That stands right up there. That is part of compassion. To be compassionate to others is to use your skill set to benefit them like you do with this podcast. It's all about giving back. And we talked about, you know, why do you have your podcast translated in Spanish?

I think is a task that he charged me with by letting me know about that notion. That stands right up there. That is part of compassion. To be compassionate to others is to use your skill set to benefit them like you do with this podcast. It's all about giving back. And we talked about, you know, why do you have your podcast translated in Spanish?