The man of miracles.
Who is Dr. Paley? Dr. Paley (for the few who still don’t know) is a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon, often called “the bone wizard,” known for his pioneering work in limb lengthening and deformity correction. He has invented or perfected about 100 surgical procedures related to limb reconstruction and deformity correction, and his protocols are used and studied by orthopedic surgeons all over the world.
When a case seems hopeless and there is no longer any hope, only one name remains: Paley, the last resort, the final hope.
Children and young people unable to walk or affected by severe deformities regain function and mobility after his surgeries. Families from around the world go to his institutes to receive care and reclaim joy and hope.
Despite the initial skepticism of some colleagues, Dr. Paley had the ability—typical of all geniuses—to see what others could not and still cannot see. Where others gave up and threw in the towel, he kept believing. He refused to let children and young people become permanently disabled without doing something. He developed innovative techniques for each patient and gave—and continues to give—his very best, gifting them a new life.
Setting aside his extensive training (which would require three pages on its own), let us recall that Dr. Paley was a professor at the University of Maryland. He founded the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute in Florida, where he is still the CEO and Medical Director. He also founded the Paley European Institute in Poland and a clinic in Abu Dhabi. From 2017 to 2021, he served as orthopedic surgeon to the White House.
He runs foundations supporting orthopedic missions around the world. He has published over 150 articles, 5 books (notably “Principles of Deformity Correction”), and over 60 book chapters. The “CORA method” for deformity analysis, presented in his textbook, is recognized as a gold standard in orthopedic deformity planning.
He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including government citations, the Pauwel Medal in Clinical Biomechanics, the title of Healthcare Professional and Health Hero of the Year, and has been listed among the Florida 500 Top Business Leaders for multiple years. He was named a “Living Legend” by Palm Beach Illustrated and, again, served as the orthopedic surgeon for the White House from 2017 to 2021.
He speaks six languages fluently, trains surgeons all over the world, and continues to innovate in reconstructive orthopedic surgery.
This is Dr. Paley in a few lines, but I want to tell you the story of our encounter with him.
The boy you see in the photo with Dr. Paley is my son Giovanni, who suffers from tibial pseudoarthrosis. Ever since he was born, we turned to the best orthopedic surgeons in Italy, but none of them ever offered a definitive solution. After a fracture, a surgery with the application of a fixator, and a subsequent fracture, what was proposed was another surgery with no guaranteed outcome—another two years with a fixator, and then, who knows, maybe…
Seeing my son physically and emotionally destroyed, I decided to turn to Dr. Paley. I had known of him for a long time, but we didn’t have the financial means to approach him. Then, thanks to the generosity of many people, that opportunity became a reality.
We traveled to Abu Dhabi, and there we met Dr. Paley for the first time. Given the stature of the man, many might expect to feel some intimidation—and indeed we did—but when he arrived with his smile, his American-accented Italian, and explained everything to us patiently, like you would to a child, the tension melted away. He made us feel completely at ease.
When he answered all our questions (mostly mine) politely and calmly—even though he had just come out of surgery—he eliminated all our doubts. He made us understand that he knows we are entrusting him with the most important thing in the world. And that’s how he treats every patient: like they are the most important person in the world. He doesn’t abandon them, and he never stops until he has done everything possible for each of them.
So surgeries that are supposed to last two hours last six. If during the operation he sees something unexpected (and he makes decisions right there on the spot), he informs you how he plans to proceed. In some cases, even when he adds extra devices, he doesn’t charge additional fees.
In our case, since he couldn’t complete the Cross Union in the UAE, he waived his fee and significantly reduced the cost of the operation so we could go to Poland to finish the treatment. Because Paley will not settle for anything less than the absolute best for every single one of his patients.
Then in Poland, it turned out Giovanni’s knee also needed correcting, and it would require another surgery. At that point, my daughter started telling me she would never allow her brother to go through that again—it was too painful. Giovanni said the same: he wouldn’t even consider it.
I told them not to be hasty and to focus on the operation at hand.
Meanwhile, Dr. Paley was consulting with Dr. Thomas (whom I call the “mechanical doctor”—but I’ll tell you about him next time). He turned to us with a smile and said, “I’ve talked with Dr. Thomas. We’ll try to do the knee too.”
On the day of surgery, after five hours in the OR, he came out exhausted, holding a can of Coke in his hand, and in his Italian with an American accent, told us he had also taken care of the knee—without charging anything extra, because he knew we had needed to start a fundraiser to come to him.
So, who is Paley?
An inventor of innovative methods?
A genius? A hero? A pioneer?
The best orthopedic surgeon in the world?
A beautiful person?
A superhero without a cape?
To each of us, Dr. Paley is all of these things rolled into one.
For us mothers who fought like lionesses, refusing to accept a life of disability for our children, Dr. Paley is, above all, the savior of our children—the one who, after us, has given them a new life.
To us, he is simply the man of miracles.
