Ecuador

Patricia Davis, MD, clinical assistant professor, and her husband, anesthesiologist Gregory Carr, MD, joined a medical mission team of physicians, optometrists and certified ophthalmic technicians traveling to Ambato, Ecuador in February 2003. In a joint effort between the University of Kentucky and the University of Alabama, Birmingham, members saw 150 patients, did 23 operations and distributed over 1,000 pairs of glasses donated by the Lions Club. According to Dr. Davis, the trip is best described by a story:

"Roberto was a 16 year old boy who wanted his eyes fixed. He was very polite, well dressed in his high school uniform, and was accompanied by his mother. We did the surgery the next day. His case was the last of ten that day. The surgical team went into the recovery area after cleaning up the OR to wait for Roberto to wake up. We needed to wait for the nurse to finish recovering him. That way, we could all leave the hospital on the shuttle bus together. It was about 8 p.m., dark. While I was putting my equipment away, I heard his mother weeping. I saw her bent over his bed crying, hard. I went over to her and said, ‘The surgery went very well. Your son is fine.’ She said ‘Doctora, you don’t understand. I’ve been praying for this for five years. My son can now go to college, get a date, be normal. God has heard my prayers.’ Needless to say, we all cried after hearing this. God used us to help her son. God used her to show us how He works."

After relating this story at a departmental conference, Dr. Davis went on to say how this mother’s remarks reminded her that even what has become a routine surgical procedure to us can be a miracle to a patient who has no chance for a normal life without it.