Truman's dad-daughter duo share bond, operating table

NORFOLK

April Matiasek has always been close to her father.

"Ever since I was a kid, I've been daddy's little helper," she said. "We've always worked together."

Little did either of them know that one day she'd be cutting people open on a table across from him.

Matiasek, now a Navy lieutenant, is flight surgeon for Carrier Air Wing 3, which deployed with the Truman carrier strike group in November. Her father, Navy Capt. Kenneth Sample, serves as surgeon and senior medical officer aboard the carrier.

During the ship's seven-month deployment, which ends Wednesday, the two were a rare thing in the service: a father-daughter operating team.

That both of them made it aboard was the result of a grand life decision and a bit of finagling.

Although Matiasek, 29, the eldest of Sample's children, shares a bond with her father, the camaraderie once stopped short of following him into medicine.

"I swore I would never go through the pain, anguish and hell he did," she said.

That changed in her junior year of college, when she needed a summer job. Sample was back in private practice at the time and needed some help.

"I realized I could do this," Matiasek said. She took the tests and enrolled at Sample's alma mater, the University of Louisville's School of Medicine.

"I guess never say never," she said.

She graduated about three years ago, then proceeded to a surgery internship and flight surgeon training. As she was completing that, Sample, who was working at Camp Lejeune, was looking for a new duty station.

"We kind of played the game to make it happen," said Sample, 48. With his seniority, getting orders to the Truman wasn't difficult. What was harder was convincing everyone that the whole thing wasn't just his idea.

"They were afraid I was being the overbearing dad, trying to look over her shoulder," he said. More than one person took Matiasek aside to make sure she really wanted to be on the ship.

She convinced them and joined the air wing in February 2007. Sample came aboard the Truman the following September. The ship set sail, and the two set to work.

During the first half of the deployment, Sample wasn't the senior medical officer, so he mainly gave his daughter advice. Once he took over, the balancing act of playing boss and father began.

The two performed about a dozen routine surgeries during the cruise, mostly related to hernias and appendectomies.

"We know each other's habits," Matiasek said, "which makes for a good working relationship."

In the evening, the two hung out, and she got the benefit of a mentor who could guide her through both medical and Navy issues.

"I've got my dad and my best friend. I've got all these things on board," Matiasek said. "Even in the day to day, I sometimes feel sorry for other folks."

Sample was equally pleased.

"There's the father's pride in hearing positive things around the ship about her," he said, as well as getting the rare chance to watch his daughter fly on and off the carrier.

"If you've got to deploy," Sample said, "this is the way to do it."

Matiasek's husband, also a Navy doctor, is working on an orthopedic residency here in Hampton Roads. Matiasek might pursue orthopedics herself in a few years. It's quite possible the couple and Sample could eventually be at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center together.

But for now the father-daughter team is hosting the rest of the family on the tiger cruise from Mayport, Fla., to Norfolk - a nd recounting their singular voyage.

"I have had fun doing stuff with Dad all my life," Matiasek said. "It's like the best thing that could have happened."

Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com