US President-elect Donald Trump has named Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a 48-year-old medical expert, as the United States’ next Surgeon General.
Dr. Nesheiwat, widely recognized for her appearances as a health specialist on Fox News, is set to assume the role of “the nation’s top doctor.”
Dr. Nesheiwat has often spoken about how the tragic loss of her father during her youth fueled her passion for a career in medicine.
However, The New York Times has revealed a haunting chapter from her past: at age 13, she accidentally shot and killed her father at their family home in Orlando, Florida.
According to a 1990 police report, the incident occurred as she reached for a pair of scissors stored in a fishing tackle box on a shelf. In her account to police, she said, “I opened the fishing tackle box and the whole thing tipped over. Something fell out of it, and there was a loud noise. I saw blood on my father’s ear.”
Her father, 44-year-old Ben Nesheiwat, succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head caused by a .38-caliber handgun stored in the tackle box. The coroner ruled his death an “accidental shooting.”
In her memoir, Beyond the Stethoscope, Dr. Nesheiwat shares how the heartbreaking loss of her father inspired her pursuit of a career in medicine but does not directly mention her involvement in the incident.
She writes, “When I was 13 years old, I helplessly watched my dear father dying from an accident as blood was spurting everywhere. I couldn’t save his life. This was the start of my personal journey to become a physician.”
Dr. Nesheiwat’s appointment has sparked significant public interest, given both her professional accomplishments and her deeply personal story.
