Birmingham, Ala. (June 17, 2026) — Most fathers and sons bond over their love for sports, automobiles, or outdoor adventures. But for Jason and Sam Brooks, their father-son bond runs deeper, rooted in a desire to help others.
Jason Brooks is the assistant director of one-day surgery and post-anesthesia care at Children’s of Alabama. Brooks says he was inspired to come to the hospital during his last semester of nursing school.
“I was 22 years old and diagnosed with cancer, said Brooks. “After one of my treatments, I was kind of feeling down about myself and walked over to the Children’s cafeteria to get something to eat. I really had a change of mind, a change of focus, after I saw the children and what they were going through. Made me rephrase my own journey, and after that, I have always wanted to work at Children’s Hospital.”
With a reframed mindset and a strong desire to make an impact on the world, Brooks started working as a nurse at Children’s in 1998 and has been employed here for the past 28 years. His compassion was evident not only to his patients and their families but also to his own family.
“A lot of what inspired me to come to Children’s was seeing my parents work here,” said Sam Brooks, patient care technician at Children’s of Alabama. “I saw their level of empathy and compassion towards their patients, and they brought that home.”
Sam says he decided to go into the medical field at the end of his senior year of high school. He has now worked at Children’s for 2 years. Sam says it was his father’s advice that helped guide him down his career path.
“His advice was to be open to growth and learning, absorbing as much information as possible,” said Brooks.
Jason says he wanted his son to learn a lot of people skills. He also says he wanted him to be open about which part of the medical field he wanted to enter and always to know his why.
“You are going to have bad days; you are going to have good days, but always keep why you are here and why you made the decision to be in the medical field at the forefront in your mind,” said Brooks.
So, for now, this father and son will continue working at Children’s, knowing that their work will not only impact dozens of patients daily but also create a bond that will last a lifetime.
