With his kind eyes and luminous smile, David Haymon has a way of putting people at ease. And the open-armed greeting he is prone to giving people is pretty much the way he approaches life.

These are just some of the traits that have made Haymon a much-loved personal care technician at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

“He is a very good example of someone who’s making a day-to-day difference in these patients’ lives,” says his supervisor, Jannet Short.

Haymon says he strives to “go above and beyond” when caring for patients. He even attends their funerals.

But the 44-year-old father of two boys, ages 5 and 7, can recall a different life, one that was headed in the wrong direction. Haymon was born in Pine Bluff to a single mother and raised mainly by his grandmother. When his mother was in his life, she frequently moved the family around. He lost a brother to drugs and found himself facing Circuit Court Judge Mary McGowan on several occasions. She gave Haymon one last chance to turn his life around, and he followed her guidance. He now credits her with saving his life.

“I had to close that chapter,” Haymon says.

He has dedicated his professional life to helping others.

After moving to Little Rock 15 years ago, Haymon started a short-lived van service for Baptist Hospital patients, providing transportation to and from the hospital and rehabilitation. After two years, he began working at UAMS and found his calling at the cancer institute, where, according to Short, patients request him by name.

Perhaps that’s because he is an expert with a needle — “Pain free. I can stick 100 people and it’s pain free,” he says.

Or perhaps it’s because of the way he embraces the patients.

“I treat people as I want to be treated. I treat them like family,” he says. “It’s like when your child gets sick; you bend over backwards.”

Haymon’s caregiving efforts don’t stop at the institute. He mows the lawns of elderly neighbors and regularly checks on an 86-year-old woman who lives across the street — even procuring a walker for her when the time came.

Short recalls a Monday when Haymon showed up for work and asked to take off the next day — something he never does. The reason? He had an elderly neighbor who needed her roof repaired, and he had not been able to complete the task over the weekend.

Haymon also has been trying to start a recreation center for at-risk youth, all the while waging his own anti-drug campaign and sharing his story any time the opportunity arises.

When asked if his work at UAMS takes an emotional toll, he answers, “Yes.” But he adds, “They need you, so you can’t let it get you down.”

And for Haymon his approach to caregiving is simple enough.

“When people are sick, it can just be a smile,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be anything else.”