As aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) begins its return to homeport, one Sailor aboard will be able to see his son celebrate his 10th birthday due to the heroic actions of Truman's surgeon.

On Dec. 10, 2015, a combination of rare events led to Lt. Cmdr. Diego Vicente, Truman's surgeon, performing an uncommon esophageal repair surgery -- never before done at sea -- to save the life of Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Brandon Stevenson, assigned to the "Fist of the Fleet" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25.

"Stevenson reported to medical having a pre-existing esophageal surgery that was recently complicated by an episode of vomiting, where he blew open his previous surgical repair and his stomach ended up in his chest," said Vicente. "His stomach twisted on itself and cut off the blood supply to the portion of the stomach where it meets the esophagus."

Vicente said achalasia -- a condition in which the muscles of the lower part of the esophagus fail to relax, preventing food from passing into the stomach -- is rare. Its repair surgery, and having this complication is also rare. Stevenson's case was a combination of three very rare events.

"In our world that is a nightmare," said Vicente. "From a surgical standpoint [inside the abdomen] is one of the worst places to operate, especially while redoing a surgery."

Prior to reporting to medical Stevenson continued to work, but when his health did not improve, he knew something wasn't normal.

"I was still working for a couple of days after I got sick," said Stevenson. "I couldn't keep down any food or water, but I was just toughing it out. I thought that maybe it was just a virus or something bad I ate. When I finally couldn't take the pain anymore I told my shop something wasn't right. I rarely ever get sick so they knew something had to be wrong. That's when I finally came down to medical."

After Stevenson was examined, his X-rays showed the twist of his stomach had progressed to the point where a portion of his stomach was about to die.

"The combination of how much pain he was in, the x-rays, and the fact he was vomiting blood told me we didn't have enough time to send him to the next hospital," said Vicente. "If he had waited the 4-6 hours it takes for a medical evacuation, his risk of mortality would have been extremely high."

Thanks to the quick decision-making and actions by Vicente and his surgical team, they were able to save Stevenson and prevent him from having lifelong complications following the surgery.

"When I came down to medical I was in so much pain I was ready to give up," said Stevenson. "If [Vicente] didn't intervene, I wouldn't be here today. If it wasn't for him making critical decisions during the surgery, I would have never been able to eat by mouth again."

This was the first time this emergency procedure has been performed on a warship at sea. Vicente said his training prepared him for this type of situation.

"My mentor literally trained me for this," said Vicente. "When I was going through training everyone says 'oh that will never happen.' Everyone balks at the idea of being out in the middle of the ocean by yourself and something like this happens. But it did happen, and that's one thing that sets military medicine apart -- we are trained for the worst case scenario in austere environments, and because of that I was successful."

Following the 9-hour operation, Stevenson was flown back to the U.S. to recover at a military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.

"The recovery time was two months," said Stevenson. "It was pretty painful. I had to eat and drink through a tube into my stomach. It was frustrating, but I tried to keep positive the whole time."

Stevenson said during his time spent in the hospital he got a new sense of motivation from an unexpected place.

"During my recovery I was surrounded by other military members who were recovering from serious injuries, and they were staying positive," said Stevenson. "That helped me stay positive and motivated me to come back and finish what I started."

Stevenson was given two options at the end of his recovery period -- medically retire or take new shore duty orders in the U.S. Instead, he fought to return to Truman and finish his sixth deployment.

"What drove me to come back is I always finish what I start," said Stevenson. "I wanted to get back into the fight. I wouldn't have felt right taking the option to not come back. I wanted to come back to my shipmates that I helped train for this deployment and finish it with them."

On Feb. 18, Stevenson rejoined Truman to finish the deployment he started.

"In six years of surgical residency training, you think about this moment when you are going to be challenged in a surgical case," said Vicente. "Stevenson was that moment for me. Greeting him on the flight deck when he returned was one of the best moments of my life. There is nothing like seeing a Sailor back in the fight."

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