James Walker, 26, of Levittown dies

James Walker of Levittown chose a career in osteopathic medicine because, he said, it involved a hands-on type of healing that appealed to him.

Just seven months shy of graduation from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, Walker was struck by a car while crossing a Bay Shore street. He died Friday at age 26 at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, where he was admitted after the Oct. 16 accident in which police said the driver was not charged.

"Medicine is a great outlet in order to touch the lives of many people and in a way that no one else can, because we only get one body, one chance, and without that there is nothing else," Walker says in a video on the school website.

"It allows me to get hands-on, which I think is something that a lot of a physicians should take to heart a lot more -- to just put your hands on your patients just to heal," Walker says. "And it's really important to interact. You form a stronger bond, patients respect you and trust you more, and it really makes a difference in the healing process."

Osteopathic medicine stresses care that involves manipulating the muscles and bones of patients, as well as traditional care.

Walker, an only child, was a 2003 graduate of MacArthur High School in Levittown, graduated from Boston University in 2007 and would have graduated in May from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine.

"James was a wonderful young man, an exceptional young man," the school's dean, Thomas Scandalis, said Monday. "He espouses all the characteristics you would want in a physician and citizen of the world. We've lost one of our best and brightest and we are devastated."

Walker's father, Philip, said his son was a defender of underdogs and often stepped in to stop bullying.

"He was 6 feet, 5 inches tall and he was always looking out for the little guy," his father said. "His mom [Christina] said it best: 'James was the pebble in the pond whose ripples touched us all,' " his father said.

Visitation is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday at Charles J. O'Shea Funeral Home at 603 Wantagh Ave. in Wantagh. There will be a funeral Mass Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church at 3100 Hempstead Tpke. in Levittown, followed by burial at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale.