Plastic surgeon brightens over 32,000 kids’ smiles with free treatments

• Dr. Subodh Kumar Singh established a hospital that would provide reconstructive plastic surgery at a very affordable cost.
• They then partnered with Smile Train to provide free corrective surgery for kids with cleft lips and palate.
• They have since given over 32,000 life-changing surgeries to kids in need.

A plastic surgeon who has been providing affordable reconstructive surgeries has teamed up with a charity to provide free cleft-palate surgeries for kids in need.

Dr. Subodh Kumar Singh shared that his family lived in extreme poverty after his father, Gyan Singh, passed away in 1979 when he was just 13 years old.

In 1982, his older brothers pitched in to pay for Singh’s medical entrance exams. In 1988, he earned an M.B.B.S (an international medical degree equivalent to an M.D. in the US) from Banaras Hindu University. He proceeded to earn a Master of Surgery in 1991, and in 1994, a Master of Chirurgiae in plastic surgery.

In 2001, he established GS Memorial Plastic Surgery Hospital in memory of his father. There, they provide affordable reconstructive plastic surgery to the needy.

They then partnered with the charitable organization Smile Train to provide free corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates.

Dr. Singh shared, “Since 2008-09, we annually perform 4,000-plus free cleft surgeries under this initiative.”

They have since provided over 32,000 free treatments!

The doctor shared how he saw his teen self in every child in need.

“My father Gyan Singh and mother Giriraj Kumari (she died last year) taught me to serve the poor and live ethically,” he added. “I feel God made me a plastic surgeon and not a businessman to serve a divine cause.”

In addition to free cleft-plate surgeries, the doctor and his team has also provided over 6,000 free extensive burn surgeries. His efforts inspired the creation of the 2015 National Geographic documentary “Burned Girl”, which followed the life of nine-year-old Ragini, whose childhood burns were treated surgically by Dr. Singh.

Source: sunny skyz