This isn't how doctors are usually welcomed into a room. But, then again, Patch Adams isn't your average doctor.
DR. PATCH ADAMS
Physician and Clown
'I can engage people aggressively in such a way with clowning, that I never could dressed normally.â?
For the last 50 years, he's been clowning around with patients, with his funky hair, clunky shoes and pants that can be worn in one....two...three....or four different styles. He shared his techniques with medical students in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, which is the same hospital where St. John Paul II was treated.
DR. PATCH ADAMS
Physician and Clown
'No matter how horrible the suffering, humor is huge in helping.â?
It's not just about a quick laugh though...Years ago, the 69 year old doctor, realized that laughter, love and compassion is actually good for your health.
If his story sounds familiar, it's because his life was made into a film. Robin Williams played him in the1998 film Patch Adams.
Every time he walks into a hospital, nursing home or orphanage, he knows exactly where he wants to go.
DR. PATCH ADAMS
Physician and Clown
'I say please take me to whom is suffering the most. Maybe humor can have a place in working towards peace and justice in the world.â?
He's taken over 6,000 volunteers all over the world, to clown around, from age 3 all the way to 88.
DR. PATCH ADAMS
Physician and Clown
'Anyone can be compassionate all day long.â?
For two years he called random phone numbers to see how he could engage people in conversations. His longest hug, he says, lasted 12 hours, and one day, he decided he would walk into elevators, this way...
His personality may be extreme, but so is his desire to help. In 1971 he and a group of 20 adults, three of them doctors, moved into a six bedroom house, and made it an makeshift hospital. For 12 years, they treated hundreds of patients a month, for free...The group worked odd jobs, so they could offer free treatment. Patients were offered to live there at no cost.
DR. PATCH ADAMS
Physician and Clown
'More than the love and more than the joy it was the humor that made nobody want to leave.Every day was fascinating.â?
When asked if he ever gets exhausted from always lending a helping hand, he says it's just the oppositethe more energy you give, he says, the more you get back.
KLH
MG
FA
-PR
Up: YJA
