Dr. Charles Ray Jones was 87 years old and in his waning days of doctoring when Troy Murphy became his patient in late 2016. Early that year, the boy, age 10, had turned in mere weeks from exuberant, active, and whip-smart in school to unable to eat or walk and consumed by pain. Within months he was living in a hospital bed in the family living room. He was fed through a tube.
Dr. Jones, 87, comforts Troy Murphy, then 11, in a home visit in a Hartford, Connecticut, suburb in December 2016. With a scientific mind and the compassion of a great doctor, Dr. Jones expertly treated Troy and many children who were sickened by Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. For challenging a dogma that strictly limits such care, he suffered a tremendous personal cost. His reward was Troy Murphy’s life. (Photo by Mary Beth Pfeiffer)
For his first appointment, this withered young boy was carried into Jones’ office, screaming and fearful of another doctor. In a three-hour examination he was reassured, and he came to trust. “You can be the same Troy you were before all this happened,” Jones, a giant of a man in a sweatsuit, told him. “You are fixable.”
And so Troy was. Two years later, he returned to school in a wheelchair, first part-time, then, months later, full-time. The following year, he started to walk the halls on his own. Today, six years later, Troy is a high school junior who hopes to try out for varsity soccer. He smiles broadly in family photos. He hikes and banters with his four brothers like he used to. He is happy and whole……..Join or login below to continue reading.