What story was Jack talking about? I keep searching around, and racking my brain, but to no avail? :-(

It was the story about fear. He talks about how, when he was a resident, he was opertating on a 16 year old and he accidently cut her and all of her nerves came out "like angel hair pasta". He let fear take him for 5 seconds, then it was gone and he fixed it. She was perfectly fine afterwards

What story was Jack talking about? I keep searching around, and racking my brain, but to no avail? :-(


I could be wrong but I got the impression he was refering to this speech from part 1 of the Pilot

JACK: Well, fear's sort of an odd thing. When I was in residency, my first
solo procedure was a spinal surgery on a 16-year-old kid. A girl. And at the
end, after thirteen hours, I was closing her up, and I -- I accidentally ripped
her dural sac. Shredded the base of the spine where all the nerves come
together. Membrane, stenos tissue and ... So it ripped open. Nerves just
spilled out of her like angel hair pasta. Spinal fluid flowing out of her, and
I ... and the terror was just so ... crazy. So real. And I knew I had to deal
with it. (As he talks, tears leak from his eyes.) So I just made a choice.
I'd let the fear in. Let it take over. Let it do its thing. But only for five
seconds. That's all I was gonna give it. So I started to count. One ... two
... three ... four ... five. Then it was gone. I went back to work, sewed her
up, and she was fine.

I could be wrong but I got the impression he was refering to this speech from part 1 of the Pilot

No, he was definitely talking about the patient and cutting her on accident/fear. Remember, he said when she got away to tell him the story when they first met, when she (Kate) was sewing him up?

Interesting that Ben asked Jack if he was afraid (or nervous, I don't remember which) and then decided to cut Ben's kidney sack. Could that moment when Ben asked him, have been when Jack decided to cook up this plan?

Interesting that Ben asked Jack if he was afraid (or nervous, I don't remember which) and then decided to cut Ben's kidney sack. Could that moment when Ben asked him, have been when Jack decided to cook up this plan?

Very good catch! He WAS nervous and he accidentally sliced the 16 year old open. This time he wasn't nervous and he did it on purpose. Irony!

It took me a while to rewind my brain to season 1 and remember the story too!! It took me a good 5-10 minutes!

I'm struggling with why Kate would recall this story . . . considering all that's happened since the plane crash, and the post-traumatic stress they must all be suffering from, why this story?

Maybe because it's from their very first meeting? Also, we know she remembers it because she uses the "1..2..3..4..5" thing twice in the series (Pilot and Man of Science, Man of Faith)