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Dr. Thomas Dignan
Health advocate still living his dream
By By Deirdre Tombs
Windspeaker Writer
He came from very humble beginnings, and travelled over rough
ground to get to where he wanted to go, but Thomas Dignan made
it. His dream of becoming a doctor became a reality, and for
his work and perseverance, Dr. Dignan became this year's recipient
of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for medicine.
"I was flabbergasted.
It was not something that I had expected because I do what I
do because of my love of medicine and I just try to promote better
health and well-being for First Nations," said Dignan about
receiving the award.
Dignan knew he wanted to be a doctor at the age of five when
he visited Dr. Tom Jamieson, one of the first Native graduates
from the faculty of medicine at the University of Toronto.
"I was so impressed by the way he dealt with me and he was
like a great big gentle bear, and I decided then that I wanted
to be a doctor. But my dad died when I was 14 and I just sort
of lost sight of all of my dreams and aspirations and realized
that when I was about 18, having dropped out of high school halfway
through Grade 10, that I was going to go nowhere."
Dignan felt his only option was to ...
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