Hilton Head father, son to appear in Ben Carson commercial

If the bumper sticker on Barry Ginn's car for Dr. Ben Carson's presidential campaign didn't make clear who the Hilton Head Island resident supports in the race for the White House next year, perhaps the commercial he just filmed will.

Nearly a quarter-century after Carson performed lifesaving surgery on Ginn's son, Beau, he and his son filmed an advertisement on Hilton Head on Sunday in support of Carson's campaign. Beau Ginn was flown in from Utah for the commercial, and a production company interviewed the two at friend Brenda Woodie's house in the Leamington community and at a dock near Hudson's Seafood House on the Docks, Barry Ginn said.

The Ginns only found out about a week before that the commercial would happen -- and only two weeks after campaign officials sent out an email asking if anyone who knew about Carson's past wanted to appear in advertisements. Woodie, who had previously corresponded with some of Carson's staff and received the email, immediately thought of the Ginns and referred them, she said.

Carson served as Beau Ginn's doctor from 1986 to 2011 while he worked as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Carson was the only doctor willing to perform a risky lifesaving surgery on Beau, who was just an infant and had been born with dwarfism, Barry Ginn said.

Beau Ginn had a condition at the base of his skull in which a restriction around his backbone would cause his heart to stop, his father said. A doctor at Emory University referred the Ginn family to Carson, who they said was only doctor who could perform that type of surgery. Before his successful surgery in 1987, the youngest patient who had undergone the procedure was 14 or 15 years old, Barry Ginn said.

"It was life or death surgery," Barry Ginn said.

"Before it we told him, 'Good luck, Dr. Carson.'

He said to us, 'Luck's got nothing to do with it. God works through my hands.'

"We never questioned him again after that."

Carson would operate on Beau a few more times over the years, and the family kept in contact. Woodie and her family were in Baltimore for a family reunion when Carson performed the surgery. They met him for the first time then and closely followed his career.

A few years later, when Carson wrote his autobiography, "Gifted Hands," Barry Ginn gave Woodie an autographed first-run copy. She still has it on her bookshelf and lent it to her granddaughter to read ahead of Carson's visit to Wilson Hall School in Sumter two years ago.

On Sunday, the Ginns talked about how meeting Carson changed their lives and why they believed his experience, faith and moral character made him a strong choice for president.

"Dr. Carson did miraculous things," Barry Ginn said. "When people ask if he'd make a good president, I always say that Dr. Carson had life or death situations every day of his adult life -- his hand on the red phone of people's lives all the time."

From 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, the two Ginns were with the production crew, which flew in Saturday morning and left Sunday afternoon. Beau, who is a prison guard in Utah, stayed from Friday until Monday morning, his father said. He was unavailable for comment Monday.

Barry Ginn and Brenda Woodie hope to see Carson soon. The Republican presidential candidate is one of the few in the GOP primary who has not visited Beaufort County yet.

"Next time he's close, I want to say hello to him," Barry Ginn said. "I know he's pretty busy, running for president and all."

Woodie hasn't seen Carson since that rainy day in December 2013 at Wilson Hall School. She was struck by how he stayed and continued to sign copies of his books for eager fans, even as the possibility of missing his flight grew.

"There is such compassion in the man that he did not want anyone to leave the school without having their book signed," she said. "That might be a little bit harder now. I'm hoping he'll visit soon."

Barry Ginn said he's unsure when or where the commercial will air. The production company told him it will appear in mainstream media, so that could extend to TV ads.

"I've had a lot of really cool things happen in my life, and I always want to pay it forward," he said. "For us to be able to pay it forward to a guy like Ben Carson is pretty humbling."

Follow reporter Matt McNab on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.

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This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Hilton Head father, son to appear in Ben Carson commercial."