A beloved doctor who was killed in South Carolina in a shooting is remembered for his deep involvement in the community
Friends of a South Carolina doctor himself, along with three family members, who were killed by a former soccer player on Friday recalled a doctor’s love of writing and a passion for medicine and animals.
Dr Robert Lesslie, 70, his wife Barbara Lesslie, 69, grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5, and therapist James Lewis, 38, were all shot Wednesday at a doctor’s house in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
South Carolina shooting suspect former NFL player Phillip Adams, sheriff confirms
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Lesslie was the founder and medical director at Riverview House Calls & Riverview Hospice and Palliative Care, according to the company’s website. He obtained his doctorate from Medical University of South Carolina and worked in Rock Hill for 40 years, the website said.
He and his wife had four grown children and eight grandchildren.
The alleged killer, Phillip Adams, was later killed by suicide, the cherub’s office said on Thursday. Adams was a former footballer, the best defender to play six seasons in the NFL.
No motive is immediately known.
Great writer
Dr. Lesslie was a prolific author who wrote more than a dozen books on the subject of heresy and faith.
Nancy B. Kennedy – whose book “Miracles & Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Doctors” published next to the doctor’s “Miracles in the ER” – said she was “drowned” by the murder, which she called “absurd” and “very serious.”
Kennedy said he was always struck by Lesslie’s ability to learn important life lessons from patients, whether they were visited once or saw them during long-term treatment.
“He thought deeply about this occasional meeting which was only minutes, and he learned valuable lessons from them,” Kennedy told NBC News.
Another of Leslie’s work, the second volume of “Angels in the ER,” is expected to be published in August.
As a young writer, Kennedy said he was always grateful for Ladlie’s encouragement.
“One thing I remember and appreciate was that here he was a well-known, and well-known author,” he said. “He was very encouraging to me as a well-known young writer, he had no respect for jokes and anonymity, so I was grateful at the time for his willingness to work together.”
A veterinarian who loves animals
Lesslie also enjoyed treating two-legged creatures, keeping a small zoo for “little horses, goats, donkeys, chickens and many bees” in his area, according to Riverview Hospice and Palliative Care Riverview, where he was a medical director.
Charlotte Stephens, a mental health nurse at Spartanburg Medical Center, said she would always be happy for Ladlie to be one of her first counselors.
“She gave me my first job (a family nurse) and she believed in me,” Stephen wrote to Leslie. “Grief and panic are rampant.”
Lesslie often arranged for her fellow doctors and nurses to visit poor communities that could not afford medical care, according to author Faith Hunter.
“Lesslie … couldn’t believe he was going to say certain things unless he did something about those beliefs. He was a doer,” Hunter wrote to the taxman on Facebook on Friday.
“He knew that people in his community had been rejected by the medical community while he was leading the way in wearing medical vans to take doctors and nurses to those in need. He helped establish and operate a free clinic in his hometown.”
Trent Faris, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said on Thursday that Leslie was her childhood doctor.
“Most people know Dr. Lesslie,” said Faris. “This is a very, very painful situation.”
And General Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Conveyed words of condolence to the loved ones and friends of the victims in Rock Hill and York County, where “Littlelies were known as pillars of society.”
“We will continue to send our prayers to all those affected by this tragic event,” the Senator said.