Long Way Home

Do dreams come true? Well, read on. Imagine doing undergraduate, graduate and professional schooling for a decade, then carrying out residency and fellowship work for another six years in order to enter your field of choice. Finishing such a long preparatory road might be satisfaction enough. But what if you wanted to live in the location of your choice? Sixteen years of hard work and devotion (away from your hometown) seem to deserve that; would providence or fate agree? The life of Dr. John Babb comes full circle this August, when the Goddard High graduate will return to west Wichita as physician and surgeon at Mid-America Orthopedics. Babb grew up in a neighborhood one mile south of Kellogg and 119th Street, where Mid-America Orthopedics will open a new office in August. Babb, a 1992 graduate of Goddard whose name still appears in the school's track record books (long jump and discus throw), couldn't have mapped out his career more ideally. "I'm excited about being on the west side of Wichita where I grew up. I have everything in common with west side people." Babb was a star football player at Goddard under coach Farrel Jones, getting his first taste of varsity action as a freshman in the fall of 1988. That November, Goddard earned a berth in the Class 5A state title game, one of Babb's memorable moments in prep sports. (Goddard did not win another playoff game until this past fall, when it made a run to 6A sub-state.) In addition to track and football, Babb played basketball at Goddard before going on to Tabor College, where he continued to play football and received the Distinguished Athlete and Scholar Award upon graduation in 1996. Though recruited by a couple NCAA Division I football teams in the region, Babb opted for Tabor so he could pursue academic interests. "I didn't want to just go play football somewhere," explains Babb, who played in the Shrine Bowl as a all-state defensive end and fullback. "I wanted to be in an academic field. "A great mentor to me was Dr. William Loewen, who pushed me to Tabor College," says Babb of one his childhood neighbors. "He kept me on track going into medicine. I owe a big part of that to Dr. Loewen. "It's a dream come true to practice medicine in the area I loved so much. I feel so fortunate to have found Dr. Pat Do's group at Mid-America Orthopedics. They have provided excellent care to Wichitans over the last several years. It will be a beautiful clinic. "Goddard wasn't like it is today. It was smaller back then. It was a very close-knit community. Everyone knew everyone else. All the guys played sports together from junior high, even grade school. We all knew each other our whole lives. Once we got to our senior year, we had great chemistry. "You really miss that camaraderie after high school. I hope to be able to work with the school when I get back." One man's dream certainly came true.