Dr. BJ Miller does not fear death; he fears not living life fully even more. The ex Ivy Leaguer owns a tea company, a farm in Utah and is a newlywed. He is also a triple amputee. Millers’ amazing story began in 1990 when he had a near death experience. He was attending Princeton and had gotten together with friends when his life changed forever. Miller jumped on top of an electrified shuttle very near the power source.

The electricity arched to the watch and around 11,000 volts exploded into his body. Afterward, Miller lost his left arm below the elbow and his legs below the knee. He flashes to the explosions and remembers how difficult it was getting loaded into the helicopter. Miller returned and graduated Princeton in 1993. The New Jersey Transit settled with him with a multimillion dollar settlement and to correct dangerous problems with the trains.

Miller’s personality remained intact after the incident and the subsequent surgeries; however his perspective on life changed tremendously. Miller is able to work with his patients and to understand exactly how they feel and help them face the pain and get through the healing.
Miller attributes his ability to persevere through his ordeal to his mother. She was a polio victim and wore braces while Miller was a child. Now she is wheelchair bound because of post-polio syndrome.

Miller is a perfect addition to the Zen Hospice Project. Miller has a defining compassionate spirit and an open-heart that defines who he is and what he does. Disability does not shape him, but from a patient standpoint, he gets it. Miller has obviously been through a lot and the patients can see that he is one of them and not just another doctor. The Zen Hospice Project’s Guest House and formed collaboration with UCSF. The University pays for a couple of beds for its patients.

USCF medical students and fellows then rotate through the hospice. The vision is to blend the social and medical models for care to create something new and better for the hospice patient. Miller intends to bring in the best of medical science and trained volunteers for bereavement support and education for caregivers. Miller finds himself spiritual and his work enlightening because it he believes that kindness is the antidote for suffering, a guiding principle for his work.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

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