Columnist Mike Henle, left, is shown with his own ‘Gifted Hands’ friends, neurosurgeon Dr. Thomas Waltz, center, and neurologist Dr. Andy Aung at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, Calif.

There are only a handful of movies that I can honestly say that I have enjoyed watching.

Brian’s Song was one of them and so was Michael. Most anything with Clint Eastwood is worth watching and the movie Patch Adams fascinated me because Robin Williams played the part of a doctor who believed that taking care of people was more important than satisfying the corporate elements of the medical industry.

However, I might have found one of my favorites in “Gifted Hands,” a true story about Johns Hopkins University neurosurgeon Ben Carson whose life-changing and life-saving efforts have included curing a young girl of epilepsy while also separating Siamese twins who had been adjoined at the head.

In the movie, Carson is played by Cuba Gooding Jr. “Gifted Hands” not only captvates people, but is bound to bring a tear to your eyes, especially as patients fighting for their lives suddenly find newfound health thanks to Carson’s uncanny ability to repair a brain that was not working correctly.

In my particular case, the movie had special meaning, considering that my life with epilepsy was corrected thanks to brain surgery conducted Dec. 6, 1994, at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. Prior to the surgery, I suffered from epilepsy for the majority of my 44 years and continually found myself bouncing from one epileptic surgery to another.

In my case, gifted hands came in the form of Scripps neurosurgeon Dr. Thomas Waltz who worked with neurologist Dr. Andy Aung to remove a large portion of my right temporal lobe, which had been damaged by encephalitis suffered when I was nine months old. The encephalitis led to endless seizures that I suffered throughout my life.

I don’t think anyone intrigues me more than a neurologist who orders test after test to find out why the brain is not working correctly; and a neurosurgeon who is so precise that he or she can remove a portion of the brain while eliminating something like epilepsy at the same time — and complete the job without side effects such as paralysis or other issues you might expect from such a serious and complex procedure.

In my case, Dr. Waltz advised me prior to the surgery that there was a 1 to 2 percent chance I could have a stroke during surgery. However, when he and Dr. Aung put me back together with staples down the right side of my head, their expertise would be proven by the fact that I never had another seizure after the surgery.

So when I watched Gooding portray Carson in “Gifted Hands,” I saw myself lying on the operating table and my doctors using saws and drills to overhaul my brain and present me with a new life. I literally could not move from my seat for the entire time of the movie.

Quite honestly, “Gifted Hands” humbled me because although many of the nurses at Scripps told me they had seen the surgery via televisions adding that I had done very well during the procedure, I never had much of an idea what took place and what was actually removed.

Truthfully, I have often wished the surgery had been kept on film so that I could witness the remarkable procedure myself.

Several months ago, I had an MRI and the neurologist showed me exactly what Dr. Waltz and Dr. Aung had removed. The right side of my brain behind the eye is now a sizeable white spot and in the words of a friend at church who has read MRIs for a living, “Oh my gosh! You had a whole lot of brain matter removed, that’s for sure.”

I didn’t ask many questions either before or after my surgery choosing instead to simply trust Dr. Waltz, Dr. Aung and their staffs to do their jobs. What Gooding did in Gifted Hands was bring to life what people like Ben Carson and Thomas Waltz do with teamwork from neurologists like Andy Aung, especially when it came to resurrecting my life.

The movie was realistic, heartwarming and sincere. I could watch it over and over again. In fact, if Gooding does not receive an Emmy for his role in “Gifted Hands,” it will be a crying shame. The story is not only true but also inspirational and it’s one that I will never forget.

Unlike so many movies today, it is clean, free of vulgarity and a true testament to those who wrote and produced the made-fortelevision movie.

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