Program Note: Tune in tonight to see Dr. Sanjay Gupta report from a field hospital in Afghanistan. AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/08/art.sanjay.hospital.jpg]

Tim Langmaid
CNN Medical Managing Editor

I work with Dr. Sanjay Gupta in CNN’s Medical unit. Sanjay is a practicing neurosurgeon who spends much of his time away from CNN working at a hospital in Atlanta. Since he joined CNN in 2001, Sanjay’s two worlds (brain surgeon and journalist) have collided (so to speak) on a few occasions.

While covering the war in Iraq in 2003, Sanjay was called upon while reporting on the U.S. Navy’s Devil Docs - the military's nickname for a group of physicians who provide battlefield medical care. A 23-year-old Marine hit with a sniper’s bullet was left with massive head trauma. Jesus Vidana was declared dead – twice. But he had a faint pulse when he reached Sanjay, the surgeon. Vidana survived the surgery,  and the war.

Sanjay was still in the war zone in Iraq when he was asked about the surgery. His response offers some insight into Sanjay the doctor, the journalist and the human being.

FULL POST