Dr. Sharona Ross's recovery, reckoning, and rising mission to protect women in medicine.
CLEARWATER, FL, February 05, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Some wake-up calls arrive gently. Hers arrived at full speed.
On June 1, Dr. Sharona Ross went from surgeon to ICU patient in the blink of an eye when a bicycle accident left her with a skull fracture, facial fracture, and a left clavicle fracture. She also had no memory of the moment that changed everything. Unconscious and intubated, she was rushed through emergency care. And while the crash erased weeks of her life, it clarified something far more lasting: purpose.
There are moments that arrive without warning, moments so brief they barely register as they pass. And yet, they divide a life into before and after with absolute precision. For Dr. Ross, that moment lasted just two seconds.
She does not remember them. There is no recollection of the accident itself. No memory of the ambulance. No awareness of the three weeks her life slipped into unconsciousness. Time, for her, simply vanished.
What did not vanish was responsibility. It returned with startling clarity when she finally opened her eyes.
"My first thought was fear," Dr. Ross recalls. "But it wasn't fear for myself. It was my patients. It was earning back their trust. It was returning to the operating room with absolute certainty. Then I thought about my kids. About how fragile life is. About the moments I've prayed for. Weddings, babies, grandkids. In that moment, I understood this isn't only about my profession. It's about my life."
That instinct reveals everything. It tells you who someone is when control is stripped away. It tells you what remains when routines and certainty disappear. In that moment, Dr. Ross was not thinking about survival. She was thinking about duty. And that, perhaps, is the most honest definition of vocation.
When Strength Is Quiet
Dr. Sharona Ross is nationally respected not because she seeks attention, but because she anchors it. Her colleagues describe her as steady. Grounded. The kind of presence that steadies a room without dominating it.
Her recovery did not transform her into someone new. It revealed who she had always been. Yet it also revealed something else. It revealed something deeply familiar for women in medicine and other high-pressure fields. It showed how easy it becomes to neglect oneself while caring for everyone else.
For years, Dr. Ross urged her patients to prioritize their health. She spoke with conviction about preventative care, early intervention, and listening to the body before it demands attention. She believed it. She taught it. She lived it, except when it came to herself.
"I neglected myself," she says plainly. "Not out of shame, out of habit. Women in high-pressure professions do that. We carry everything. We push through. And somewhere along the way, we forget ourselves."
It stands as an observation rooted in clarity.
Women in medicine, and in countless demanding fields, are trained to endure. To minimize discomfort. To normalize exhaustion. To treat self-neglect as professionalism.
The accident interrupted her and in that interruption it offered a truth she could no longer ignore.
From Recovery to Responsibility
Healing restored Dr. Ross's body. Reflection reshaped her mission.
After initial emergency treatment in St. Petersburg, she was transferred to the Tampa General Hospital (TGH) Neurosurgery ICU. After nearly 10 days, she was moved to Shepherd Center in Atlanta for inpatient rehabilitation. There, she recalls, she could barely walk.
Miraculously, roughly three weeks after the accident, her memory began to return, though only reaching back to the day before the incident. She has no recollection of the morning of the accident or her time in the hospitals, including the helicopter and jet transports that moved her from one stage of care to the next.
That experience did more than restore her life. It reshaped her priorities.
What began as a personal reckoning evolved into something far more expansive. It became a commitment to speak honestly about the invisible cost of excellence and to help women protect their health before crisis makes the decision for them.
That commitment now extends beyond the operating room. Dr. Ross is preparing an upcoming book focused on helping career-driven women safeguard both their physical and emotional well-being without guilt, without apology, and without waiting for collapse to justify care.
Her message is about sustaining ambition even in times of unthinkable adversity.
Because survival, she believes, is not the same as success.
A Global Gathering with Purpose
This February, Dr. Ross will bring her story, her insight, and her steady leadership to the 16th Annual International Women in Surgery Career Symposium, a globally recognized event dedicated to advancing, supporting, and sustaining women in surgical careers.
The symposium will take place February 6–7, 2026, at the Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach in Clearwater, Florida.
Founded to encourage more women to pursue and thrive in surgery, the Women in Surgery Career Symposium has become a vital space for mentorship, leadership development, professional strategy, and collective support. More information, including registration and attendance details, is available here.
"The Accident Didn't Pull Me Off My Path"
"The accident didn't pull me off my path," Dr. Ross says. "It sharpened it. It reminded me that women don't need to survive alone at the top. We need to lift one another, make room for each other, and protect our health along the way."
Rather than dwelling on tragedy, Sharona Ross has chosen to lead by example—modeling a form of leadership grounded in sustainability and purpose. It acknowledges limits while maintaining excellence—and allows room for vulnerability while preserving authority.
In a profession that often rewards silence and stoicism, Dr. Ross offers something far more radical: honesty.
A Different Definition of Strength
Strength does not always announce itself. It does not always conquer. It does not always push forward without pause.
Sometimes strength listens.
Sometimes it stops.
Sometimes it heals.
Sometimes it reflects long enough to return wiser, and more intentional than before.
And when it rises again, it does so not to dominate, but to elevate others.
This is the strength Dr. Ross embodies. This is the strength she now teaches.
Media Contact
Dr. Sharona Ross, MD
For media inquiries, interview requests, or speaking engagements, please visit Dr. Sharona Ross's official website.
Connect + Follow
To stay connected with Dr. Sharona Ross's latest work and updates, follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter).
---
Press release service and press release distribution provided by https://www.24-7pressrelease.com
