The next day, Dr. Swan’s medical
supervisor pulled him aside and told
him that other surgeons had ques-
tioned the wisdom of saving a man
who would have so little to live for.
Dr. Swan’s action had been a hor-
rible mistake, they said. Maybe I did
the wrong thing, he thought. When
he learned weeks later that the badly
maimed soldier had survived and
been flown back to the States, he was
again plagued by self-doubt. What
kind of life have I created for this
man? he wondered. A living hell?B
ack home, McGarity under-
went additional eye and arm
surgeries and further amputa-
tions to his legs. In such excruciating
pain that he was on round-the-clock
shots of morphine, he eventually be-
came addicted. Visits from his parents
and friends hurt just as much as they
soothed. Though he couldn’t see, Mc-
Garity sensed their discomfort. It was
clear that his former life was gone
forever.
Then, six months into his conva-
lescence, McGarity reached a turning
point. One night a soldier who’d lost
a leg asked him jokingly whether he’d
go and fetch them something to eat.
McGarity had so little strength that he
could barely sit up; he couldn’t see to
navigate his wheelchair through the
hallways, let alone find the military
hospital’s PX. But by feeling his way
along, by asking people for directions,
he somehow managed. And after heBIG FOOD
FOR
BIG DAYS
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