SHE was not born here, but Dr Heather Miller — younger daughter of the late Olympian Dr Lennox Valencia “Billy” Miller — feels very Jamaican.

“I have always felt a great connection to Jamaica. I am definitely happy to be here,” Dr Miller told the Jamaica Observer in an interview last Wednesday, before leaving her hotel to start preparing for surgery on patients at the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine.

Dr Miller is part of the 35-member medical and educational team arranged by the Jamaica Awareness Association of California, which comes to Jamaica annually to do surgeries and other medical procedures at select institutions.

An obstetrician and gynaecologist, California-based Dr Miller is on her first such mission and is excited about the visit and making mental plans to return.

“It’s something that I have always wanted to do. Part of my mission in life is to help. I just feel that there is a need here for surgeries and because my dad is from Jamaica I said it was perfect to have that kind of combination.

“The Jamaica Awareness Association of California, over the past 10-15 years, has built a programme where they come to Jamaica and do medical, educational, dental and now surgical missions. They have a great partnership with Annotto Bay Hospital, and now Victoria Jubilee Hospital and Spanish Town Hospital, working with local doctors to do laparoscopy surgeries, gynae and general surgery.

“I would love to do this every year, I would like to make it as my yearly trip to Jamaica. They are doing such an amazing job with this association, touching on areas of Jamaican life that we can help improve,” the practising doctor of 10 years said.

Dr Miller stated that her father, the legendary Kingston College and Jamaica sprinter who became a dentist after completing a first degree in psychology, played a major role in shaping her own life.

“My dad was an amazingly huge influence on my life. He was my role model and I am very much like him in personality.

“He instilled dedication and family values in my sister and myself… He was an amazing influence on our lives.”

Dr Miller was referring to her sister, Inger, like her father an Olympian, who was part of the United States’ 4×100-metres relay team that won gold at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a feat which enabled Inger and her father to go into the record books as the first father and daughter to win Olympic medals.

Inger, now an events planner in California, also won gold in the 200 metres at the 1999 World Athletic Championship in Seville, Spain, and placed second for the silver medal in the 100 metres at the same games.

She was also a member of the United States’ sprint relay team that won gold at the 1997 World Championship in Athens, Greece.

Dr Miller also tried athletics, but gave it up for a career in medicine.

“I ran in high school and at university, but my dad definitely never pushed my sister or myself.

“He was very humble and laid back and he actually discouraged us from going into track and field, but we found ourselves having some talent with speed so we were always around him from we were younger, going to the Olympics and going to track meets. That was a part of our culture growing up. We enjoyed it, but he didn’t push us. I left athletics after college,” Dr Miller told the Observer.

Lennox Miller died of cancer on November 8, 2004, aged 58, in Pasadena, California, where he practised dentistry for over 30 years.

He won the sprint double for three consecutive years at the Boys’ Athletic Championship in 1963, 1964, and 1965 and went on to win the silver medal in the 100 metres (10.04 seconds) at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, beaten by American black power activist James “Jim” Hines, who ran 9.95 seconds, the first man to break the 10-second barrier in 100 metres. Hines held the world 100 metres record for 15 years.

Four years later at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, Lennox Miller finished third in the event (10.33 seconds) to win bronze, running with a damaged hamstring muscle. Ukraine-born Valery Borzov of the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) won the race, with American Robert Taylor in second.

Miller was a member of the University of Southern California sprint relay team that set a world record of 38.6 seconds in 1967, a team that included imprisoned former NFL star OJ Simpson, Fred Kuller and Earl McCulloch.

“It was devastating when he died. He died eight years ago at age 58 at a time when we were definitely not ready for him to go. It’s still very difficult.

“He always spoke about Kingston College, which was a huge part of his life,” Dr Miller said.

As for her weeklong mission in Jamaica, Dr Miller said that despite shortage of equipment in some areas, the attitude of Jamaicans had helped to make her job much easier.

“I have an idea of how health care is around the world. I am actually very impressed with the level of care that is shown by the nurses and the physicians here that we are working with. They are amazing. There are equipment needs and a need for supplies and we need to try to find a way to bring more of those here to meet the needs of the people as that can limit our efforts.

“Laparoscopy is the way of the future everywhere. A lot of gynaecological cases involve laparoscopy and that’s where a lot of people are going because of the benefits of recovery time and less pain, and you can actually operate a lot better and see a lot more, and the patient experiences fewer lacerations.

“I am very impressed with what is here is Jamaica. The people are doing a great job. They have been so hospitable and so friendly to us.

“It is a voluntary effort, but a sacrifice that I am prepared for. It is something that I need to do. If you have a skill or knowledge that you can share, then you need to do that,” Dr Miller said.

Laparoscopic surgery, also known as minimal invasive surgery and keyhole surgery, is one in which a fibre optic instrument is inserted in the patient and the necessary procedure is done by viewing a television monitor.

The Annotto Bay Hospital, headed by senior surgeon Dr Ray Fraser, is the leading medical institution for laparascopy surgeries in Jamaica.