The Doctor Who Saved a Dying Man with Ice Cream

Around 1898, Dr. T. Evans McBrayer of Shelby was called to treat a man named John Nix who was believed to be dying of typhoid fever. At the time, typhoid patients were usually given almost no food or water, as doctors feared it would worsen the illness. Nix asked for ice cream, something never used in fever treatment. Thinking the patient was beyond saving anyway, Dr. McBrayer and Dr. Everett B. Lattimore ordered a frozen custard made of eggs and milk and fed it to him. Instead of dying, Nix began to improve, recovered, and lived for many more years. The case was later reported to the State Medical Association as an early breakthrough in typhoid treatment.