The Surgeon

Dr. Louis R.M. Del Guercio is a retired thoracic surgeon from New York and former chairman of the Department of Surgery at New York Medical College. He received his M.D. at Yale Medical School in 1953 and has published many articles in medical journals and written several books. He served as a colonel in the U.S. Army reserves during the Gulf War and received an Army commendation medal for his work.

He first decided to walk the Camino de Santiago after reading a travel article about it in the New York Times. He did not realize its deeper meaning for him until his son, Gino, began question him about his motivations during the journey.

Dr. Del Guercio is a devout Catholic and believes that God sometimes does provide miracles for those who ask. He prayed to God that his developmentally disabled grandson Ian would learn to walk. Ian’s doctors said it was impossible. But four years after the trip, Ian did learn to walk and today he gets around easily on his own.

Dr. Del Guercio currently lives with his wife Paula and dog, Moses, in Larchmont, N.Y. He is the father of eight children, and grandfather of thirteen grandchildren.