North Shore Doctor and Military Surgeon Participated in North Shore Cancer RUN from Afghanistan

While nearly 650 runners took part in the North Shore Cancer RUN at Cove Community Center in Beverly on November 10, there was one runner doing it from the other side of the world. Dr. Douglas Peterson participat by running 10K where he is stationed in Afghanistan. 

Dr. Peterson is stationed overseas as part of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force, where he is serving as the Orthopedic Surgeon officer in Charge. This aligns with his civilian life as a doctor at the North Shore Center for Orthopedic Surgery at North Shore Medical Center.

“I love the military so I am currently in the Navy Reserves for the next few years until I can retire,” Dr. Peterson wrote from his deployment. “My orders to deploy to Afghanistan came through last year and I have been gone since March, 2013. I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 as well.”

Dr. Peterson joined Drs. David St. Pierre and John Boyle at the North Shore Center for Orthopedic Surgery in October 2010 after a 15 year active duty military career that took his family and him all over the world. “I grew up in Beverly and was thrilled to be able to return to the North Shore for my civilian orthopedic practice,” he wrote. Dr. Peterson will be returning home to the North Shore later this month and is looking forward to getting his practice rolling again at the North Shore Center for Orthopedic Surgery.

Participating in the North Shore Cancer RUN from a distance was a way to combine Dr. Peterson’s ties to the North Shore, his practice, his love of running and his desire to honor loved ones who have battled cancer. He has lost many people close to him to the disease: an uncle, a close friend and Godmother to his daughter, his mentor and orthopedic partner and his cousin, who turned him on to running. “It is an honor for me to run in the memory of those loved ones lost to the ravages of the disease and [to support the] treatment of cancer,” Dr. Peterson wrote. “I am thrilled to be a small part in the fight to hopefully one day find a cure.”

While Dr. Peterson can’t say exactly where he was in Afghanistan on November 10, his heart was no doubt alongside the runners participating in the North Shore Cancer RUN. Participants here raised approximately $50,000 for outstanding cancer care at the oncology unit at North Shore Medical Center at Salem Hospital and Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center in Danvers. The North Shore Cancer RUN took place at Cove Community Center in Beverly on November 10 at 8am. There was a 5K and 10K course. For more information or to donate, please visit www.northshorecancerrun.org.