TEEN DAD AND CAR THIEF GREW UP TO CHAIR SURGERY AT HOPKINS

A Fresno car thief who was about to become a teen dad now chairs surgery at Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center. Meet Dr. James Harris, a general surgeon in Columbia, Maryland, who also helps train surgical residents.

In a profile published August 18, 2026, TODAY detailed how Harris grew up in Fresno, California, amid drug use and gang violence. He described his childhood home as a “crack den.”

His father struggled with addiction and moved in and out of his life, and his mother was largely absent, TODAY reported.

By 14, Harris had failed two years of high school, was stealing cars and was about to become a father. He carried a padlock, and later a Swiss Army knife, to look tough.

“I was a mess,” Harris told TODAY.

His girlfriend Rosina was pregnant when he drove a stolen Cadillac, fled police in a high-speed chase and made a U-turn while she watched from outside.

The counselor who changed his path

Harris was expelled from his regular high school and ended up at a continuation school. There, counselor Henry Ray told him about Fresno State’s Equal Opportunity Program.

Harris was working at a fast-food restaurant and had largely stopped thinking about higher education. “No one had ever taken the time to tell me about resources,” he told TODAY.

Harris said Ray believed in him when others judged him for barely passing classes.

He enrolled at Fresno State and needed extra math and English coursework to make up for missed schooling. Still in his teens, he was finishing high school and raising his son Tre with Rosina.

UCLA Medical School was his first choice, and he got in. Harris went back to his continuation school with a copy of the acceptance letter to show Ray.

“It was one of the greatest moments of my life,” Harris said of that visit.

KSEE/KGPE reported that Harris finished medical school at UCLA and later completed his residency at Johns Hopkins.

Life after the acceptance letter

Harris is now chair of surgery at the Howard County hospital and an associate program director for its residency program. Johns Hopkins lists him as an associate professor of clinical surgery. He was named the hospital’s Physician of the Year in 2022.

He and Rosina have been married for 34 years. Tre is an English professor, and their daughter Danielle is a biologist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory who is considering medical school.

Their son Marcus suffered a severe traumatic brain injury at 17 after falling from a skateboard, while Harris was chief resident. Marcus survived with significant disabilities, including severe vision loss, and lives with his parents.

Harris said the experience changed how he treats patients and helped him understand the fear and uncertainty families feel in hospitals.

He tells his story in a memoir, Not Who I Once Was: My Unusual Path to Becoming a Surgeon. His author website says the book features a mini-documentary produced by Dr. Antonio Webb.

Harris wants people to look at the adults around struggling kids, including teachers and counselors, who may spot a young person’s potential.

“A lot of us come from homes that are riddled with drugs and abuse and all kinds of horrible things,” he told TODAY. “And we don’t know anything that’s good because we’re raised around hell.”

“There are so many kids like me who just didn’t know,” he said. “And they just need someone to point them in the right direction.”

Finding Henry Ray again

A TODAY follow-up said Harris had searched for Ray for more than 25 years. Ray was 80 and retired.

“I wouldn’t have made it if you didn’t do that for me,” Harris told him.

“You were worth a chance because you were young,” Ray replied.

Ray declined TODAY’s interview request. His son Lavance Ray described him as “extremely private.”

Harris had posted on social media on September 16, 2026, asking for help reconnecting with Ray, and the two were connected within hours.