LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — John Bradley always knew he wanted to serve others. Growing up in Beattyville, KY, he saw the work his uncle was doing with the Kentucky State Police, and he started the academy in 1996.
Bradley says, "The call just kind of hit me. I would drive by a state police cruiser, and I would think about the life that my uncle led."
He rose the ranks to lieutenant colonel, like his uncle. His family was proud, and his uncle was too.
"To be able to accomplish some of the things that he'd accomplished, it was a tremendous source of satisfaction for me and also made my father, mother and all my family members and now my kids very, very proud too,” says Bradley.
He says he loved working with KSP, but he'd always felt called to medicine. It started with his family's small-town doctor back home, Dr. John M. Smith.
Bradley says, "He was one of the people that you go to when you're sick, you're scared, you're not feeling well and that was the kind of person I wanted to be as an adult."
He retired from KSP in 2017 and says he couldn't sit still long. He wanted to finish something he'd started years ago. He got his degree from Kentucky State University and then went on to medical school at UK.
Bradley says he, "Put in the application fully expecting to not be successful, you know it’s a pretty high rate of folks that apply and don't make it in but somehow everything lined up and the hail Mary was caught for a touchdown."
He started medical school in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. Saturday, he's trading in his uniformed career for a new one... It's something he says inspired his daughter to follow in his footsteps.
Bradley says his career in law enforcement and the one he'll have in medicine aren't too different.
He says, "What I learned early on in my career as a state trooper is you have to meet people where they are and you have to establish trust with them very, very quickly -- that; s critical and it’s the same in medicine. When you walk into a room at the hospital you have to show someone you care, that you have true compassion -- not just discretionary compassion -- but true compassion for them and a true interest in how they got where they are and how we're gonna make it better."
Bradley knows his journey is unique. He wants to set an example for his kids and show others that it's never too late to live your dreams.
He says, "Do what makes you happy and don't let anything stand in your way. Finding self-satisfaction and being able to go someplace and do your work every day where you look forward to it that's, that's the goal."
Bradley had his match day not too long ago and will be practicing in pathology at UK Health Care in Lexington.
