Our chests swelled with pride at one of this week’s front page articles in the National Herald according to which the incomparable Pele was turning to Greek-American doctors for the health problems facing his soccer-tortured body.

Specifically, Pele turned to doctors John Xethalis, Alexander Sotiropoulos and George Dangas – the latter was not included in the report but we were later informed that he was also one of his doctors. They all live in New York and work with top hospitals.

This is no coincidence at all. Pele didn’t find these doctors on his own. Some other top doctors recommended them as the best in New York in the specialties (orthopedics, urology, cardiology) that he needed.

And the interesting thing is that all three doctors started in Greece and then went on to do post-graduate training at top medical schools and hospitals in New York and elsewhere.

I don’t want to draw general conclusions from this occurrence. It does not mean that all our doctors are among the top doctors in the world.

But I want to emphasize with joy and pride that in every specialty there are Greek doctors who are among the best in the world.

And not only should we seek them out in case we need their services, but we should also prefer them, both for their skills and because it is only natural for them to show an even greater concern than usual for Greek patients. This is not to say that they are not sensitive to their other patients.

Our warmest congratulations.