Lena Leventi at a cafe in Thessaloniki.

When I was wheeled into an emergency room in Frankfurt over a year ago, the physician who coordinated my care through those critical minutes before surgery turned out to be from the same city in Greece as my wife. Not only was this incredibly reassuring for Katerina since they were able to speak in Greek about what was going on, but we found that we had other connections through people that Katerina has known from her childhood.

Fast forward a year, and we were able to meet up with Lena in Thessaloniki for coffee and get to know her as a person, not just as a badass doctor. It’s so great to be able to get to know your heroes, especially when they’re partially responsible for you still being alive.