CLEVELAND — As many as 40 patients come to Dr. James Alberty each day for his healing touch.

“A lot of people just don’t like to go to the doctor. I can’t keep my patients out of here,” Alberty said. 

At one point, using his hands as a chiropractor to help people in pain wasn’t something he thought would be possible. 

“When I was 11 years old, I was diagnosed with a rare, soft tissue cancer called epithelioid sarcoma. It was in my hand,” he said. 

It was a diagnosis that left Alberty and his parents with few options and little hope. He said doctors told them he could either let the cancer run its course or have his right hand amputated.

Neither promised a long or fulfilling life. 

Alberty said he believes visiting holistic doctors and completely changing his eating habits helped him become cancer free.

Decades later, he is using the same hand he had cancer in, to change lives of his patients in Cleveland and beyond, as co-owner of The Link, a holistic and physical therapy clinic.

He helps people of all ages and sizes and with various aliments. 

“I always say if you have a spine, you could be on my table. My youngest patient is four months old. My oldest patient is 95 years old,” Alberty said. 

Alberty said patients come to him for help with everything from migraines and pregnancy pains to trouble sleeping.

He recently took his business on the road, setting up mobile clinics to reach clients in different parts of the state and country.

As his business expands, Alberty said he can’t help but to reflect on the past and how his hands have led him to his purpose. 

“This is a blessing. These are blessings,” he said. “There was a blessing already, but now I’m using them to bless and help other people.”