|
William ‘Jamie’ Jamison is 6’ tall with a
lanky build. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he spent his childhood and teen
years on the edge of Lake Michigan, growing up on what is called Chicago’s Gold
Coast. His father was a doctor, as was his grandfather before that. Medicine is
in his blood, as he can trace his ancestry back to Dr. Jonah Jamison, a Seneca
Indian who studied his craft in Buffalo, NY. Jonah Jamison was the grandson of a
white woman, Mary Jamison, who had been originally taken prisoner by the Senecas,
and later decided to stay with them for the rest of her life. His mother,
a graduate of Julliard, was a distinguished musician, playing in many concerts
over the course of Will’s life. He took his medical degree at Johns
Hopkins University and interned at Bethesda Naval Hospital, specializing in
Trauma Medicine. He served with the Navy until he was called by Harriman Nelson
to take over the Medical Department at the fledgling Nelson Institute of Marine
Research.
Jamison had met Nelson when the Admiral was a
Captain, ‘staying’ in a Medical Facility outside of Groton, Connecticut. Nelson
had been on an ONI mission, and was injured and taken to the local hospital on
his ‘return’ because the base facility was being remodeled. The base had sent
Jamison to the hospital to supervise Nelson’s care. Learning immediately that
the Captain didn’t want to be in the hospital to begin with, and that he had
been fighting the staff about his injuries and requirements, Will Jamison
quickly befriended the officer, convincing him of the need to remain there until
he was well.
The friendship forged then became stronger
over the years until Nelson retired and founded the Institute. At that time, he
called on Will to join his staff of former Navy men and women in creating
something new and innovative. Jamison appreciated the challenge, and resigning
from active service, joined the reserves, and Admiral Harriman Nelson’s staff.
In the course of his tenure at the Institute,
he has been a participant and privy to a wide range of unusual medical
experiences that he would never have had as a ‘normal’ navy doctor.
This even included the delivery of Admiral Harriman Nelson and Captain Karen
Davis' son during a time when the boat was under a barrage of depth charges
ordered by a Colombian drug lord. It also gave him the opportunity to
create a Medical facility that was state of the art, as well to nurture along a
number of gifted medical people who would not have had the opportunities to
pursue further education, if not for ‘Jamie’s’ push. Among those 'gifted
people' was Frank Lerner, a medical corpsman aboard the Seaview, who
later succeeded Jamison as the NIMR's CMO.
Jamison’s bedside manner and ability to
handle difficult patients were put to good use in his dealings with the
Seaview’s senior staff, and his notoriously difficult patients, the most
well known being the boat’s Captain, Lee Crane.
Jamison never married, although he had
several relationships. His 'family' is the family of the Institute and he
continues to actively work on the boat as well as in the main Med Center.
|
®
