(Katherine C. Cohen/Boston Children’s Hospital)
Billy Maxwell
Supervisor of Orthopedic Technicians
They call me funny guy. Whether it’s in Weymouth, Waltham or here in Boston, the kids all come back for their checkups and say ‘Where’s Billy? Where’s the funny guy?’
We’re responsible for putting on casts, setting up any kind of traction for patients and also assisting the doctors with holding a patient in a certain position while they put a cast on or remove one. We do some braces, too.
It breaks my heart when a patient tells me they had a bad experience getting a cast or that their friend has had a bad experience, and they come with a preconceived notion that they’ll have that experience. But if it goes well, they’ll tell their friends: ‘Oh, that didn’t hurt.’
Taking the fear out of the child, that’s my biggest goal.
I have never once woken up and said, ‘I don’t feel like coming to work today.’ Success to me is doing something that you love and that you want to do every day.