After surviving 9/11, he decided to live life to the fullest — by being a doctor and a chef

Chef Dr. Thomas Lo is proof that you can have more than one true calling.

By day, he’s an anesthesiologist, and by night, he’s a chef.

“I’ve always dreamed about being a doctor. I’ve always dreamed about being a chef,” Lo told Al Roker on TODAY Jan. 2. “Why not do both?”

Growing up, Lo developed a deep appreciation of all things culinary, spending his teen years working in a bakery and learning how to cook from his parents.

“My mom would teach me how to make homemade dumplings. My dad was an incredible home cook,” Lo said, adding that the best memories of growing up were with his parents and brother at dinnertime. “We would have four bowls of white rice for five dishes and my dad would just cook the most soulful, homestyle Chinese food.”

After heading to Yale University, Lo planned to go to medical school, but instead, he threw his parents a curveball.

“I told my parents, ‘I’m gonna defer med school to go to cooking school,’” Lo said. “I was elated. I was so excited. They, not so much.”

Lo enrolled in the International Culinary Center (formerly known as the French Culinary Institute) and later began working for chef Didier Virot at his former restaurant, Virot. This experience deepened his passion for working in the kitchen, but he felt unsure about the stability of the restaurant business, so he pivoted again — to finance.

While working his job at Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Center, he experienced one of the defining moments of his life, on Sept. 11, 2001. “I was on the 73rd floor and it was actually my 23rd birthday,” he said.

“The North Tower got hit. I was in the South Tower, and I started walking. And a few moments later, that’s when we got hit. And literally my tower started to sway back and forth. I thought, ‘I’m not gonna survive this.’” Lo told Al, adding that when the swaying in his tower stopped, he decided to move. “That’s when I walked down.”

“How did that experience change you?” Al asked Lo.

“When you have a confrontation with mortality like that, and you survive that untouched, it gives you a different perspective on life,” Lo said. “I try to make every moment count. I don’t waste any time.”

After 9/11, Lo reflected on his life and realized he needed to go back into medicine, eventually becoming an anesthesiologist. But he also knew that food was still his medicine.

After work one day, a chance encounter and an incredible cucumber salad made by chef Thomas Lei, who owned a restaurant called Spy C Cuisine, led to a partnership: Chi Restaurant & Bar in New York City.

“What I would love to do is actually bring the service side that I’ve learned from hospitality into medicine,” Lo explained.

“In terms of food? So I’m Chinese. I grew up eating incredible dishes and everyone loves Chinese food in America, but what people think of when you say Chinese food is beef and broccoli, wonton soup,” Lo said, with Al adding General Tso’s chicken to Lo’s point. “Yes, which is great, which I love. But there’s so much more to Chinese food than just that. And I would love to bring that more to the mainstream.”

These days, after Lo clocks out at his own anesthesiology practice, he cooks up Chinese cuisines mainly from Szechuan regions with the other chef Tom.

Al pointed out that both medicine and food take a lot of effort and concentration, both physically and mentally. So, how does Lo do it?

“It’s a balance, but also, you know, in this life, there’s so many things I love to do,” Lo said. “I love to practice medicine. I love food. I love cooking. There’s no reason not to do them.”

“Seems like you’re living the dreams,” Al observed.

“I’m trying, Al, I’m trying,” Lo said with a hearty laugh.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com