Surgicorps

Surgicorps International is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide free surgical and medical care to people in need in developing countries.

DeNese

Bhutan 2012

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Surgicorps received a Certificate of Appreciation from Her Majesty’s Tarayana Foundation at a ceremony during the Inaugural Session for the Tarayana Annual Fair in Thimphu, Bhutan on Friday, May 4th. Surgicorps is the first international organization to receive this honor recognizing our work on behalf of the Bhutanese people over the past six years. Founder Jack Demos and his father and fellow board member, Tony Demos, returned to Bhutan earlier this week to accept the award in person.

Stories and images from the recently completed Surgical Camp in Paro will be posted soon. The 28 member team completed 59 surgeries, 125 knee injections and the first-time dental camp reached more than 1,000 Bhutanese children in a one-week period. This was Surgicorps’ 6th trip to the Kingdom of Bhutan.

All the Way to Vietnam

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In the words of volunteer Marina Llull from Mallorca, Spain

Surgicorps once again has managed to recruit some of the best doctors, nurses, anesthetists and other helpers to travel all the way to the other side of the world with the only goal to provide medical attention to anyone who reaches out for their help.

On the 27th of October all of these hardworking people paused from their everyday lives to make many other lives a thousand times better. Leaving their jobs, routines and their families and friends, these volunteers were willing to go beyond feeling solidarity and take one more step. Spending their own money and time, which we sometimes forget is something pretty hard to find, these special people want to actually make a difference. [Read more…] about All the Way to Vietnam

Bhutan, April 2011 – Pema Yengehen

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Jamyang
In the words of volunteer Mario Gutierrez

Every once in while on these surgical volunteer camps reality raises its head, stares you in the face, strikes you deep down in your soul and reminds you just why we do this. Today was a one of those days. After the organized chaos of the first couple of days of getting to know each other, setting up the supply room, organizing the operating theater and just getting into the daily routine of the ebb and flow from pre-op to recovery, the third day usually goes smoothly. That day, we had a full schedule and thought we would be there late, but this remarkable team of 18 gelled very quickly, and surprisingly we were nearly through 13 cases in reasonable time. Lots of cleft palates, cleft lips, fistulas, a variety of burn contractures, cute kid with ear tags that Dr. Jack removed under local, and then, the last case, PATIENT #36 came out of surgery. [Read more…] about Bhutan, April 2011 – Pema Yengehen

The Story of Wangdi – The Bear Warrior

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Paro, Bhutan

Wangdi is a 64 year old male who lives in the village of Punakua, a two hour drive from the Capital City of Thimphu. Three years ago, Wangdi and some of the other villagers were rebuilding their homes. When he and his friend went into the forest in search of more wood they had an unfortunate surprise encounter with a large bear and her three cubs that had been sleeping under a tree. While Wangdi’s friend managed to run away, the bear went after Wangdi, viciously attacking his face and head. With his head halfway inside the bear’s mouth, Wangdi desperately tried to pry himself free. In the process, the bear tore three of Wangdi’s fingers off his left hand. With his right hand, he was able to pull out his long knife from his “gho” and stab the bear twice before losing consciousness. In the meantime, his friend ran back to the village to get help. Although he was badly wounded, they were able to get him to the hospital and saved his life. Despite his terrible wounds he asked his friends to go back and try and find his watch, which had come off during the attack. Although they didn’t find it, they did find the bear lying dead a few yards from where they had found Wangdi. Today, Wanghi’s face remains badly scarred from the attack, although time and surgery have improved his appearance. He wears a fur hat to cover the loss of scalp on his head and stylish dark aviator glasses to mask the damage to his eyes.

He was first operated by Surgicorps in 2007 to reconstruct and reposition his eye socket. He has been back each year for additional surgeries. In 2010 a staged reconstruction of his nasal cavity was conducted with a rib bone graft, and his badly deformed eye was also further reconstructed. He’s back again this year (with cooler looking dark shades) to re-adjust the positioning of his lower eyelids to help stop his constant tearing and protect his eyes. He still carries his trusty knife with him at all times and says he’s very grateful that he still has his thumb and two fingers on his left hand so that he can finger his prayer beads and thank his good karma that he was still alive.