Dandenong surgeon James Leong and a Filipino nurse operate on a patient with a disfigurement.By Lia Bichel
A DANDENONG surgeon said he has had a “real eye-opener” after travelling overseas to perform free surgeries on people with disfigurements.
In November, James Leong, 43, returned from Baguio City in the Philippines on a trip organised through the Interplast organisation.
The organisation is made up of the combined efforts of Rotary International and The Royal Australian College of Surgeons.
Mr Leong made his first trip in 2002 and has visited a number of poor communities throughout the Philippines and Indonesia.
“I heard a lot about (Interplast) and wanted to help people who deserve it but can’t afford it,” he said.
In two weeks, Mr Leong and a team of skilled plastic surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses worked on 30 to 80 patients who suffered from a range of problems including burns, cleft palate and facial tumours.
“Burns are a big problem because many people cook with an open fire and kids often fall into the fire or put their hands on a burning pot,” he said.
“They get severely burnt and the family can’t pay for medical care.”
Mr Leong said age was the biggest difference between patients with cleft palates in Australia and patients with cleft lips in poor communities overseas.
“In Australia, patients get treatment when the time is appropriate, usually between 12 and 18 months,” he said.
“In the poor parts of the Philippines and Indonesia, patients could be 35-years-old and have had to live their life with it. They often hide their faces with a mask or are social outcasts.”
In severe cases, Mr Leong said Interplast looked for sponsors for the patients so they could be flown to Australia for advanced medical attention.
Mr Leong said even though he was born and raised in Malaysia, the trips overseas were eye-openers and he hoped to continue donating his time to help others in need.
“I have seen poor communities, but these (trips) were to really poor communities,” he said.
“My plan is to do one trip a year, and when I retire, do a bit more. The personal sacrifice I make is little in comparison to what I get back. I will never know how the patients feel (after they had surgery) but I hope it is something significant to them, and that’s why I like to do it.”
