Local plastic surgeon travels to Honduras to rebuild faces, lives

Dr. Linda Camp, of Waterloo, traveled to Honduras in February with the Central American Medical Outreach, Inc. (CAMO) plastic surgery team for her second year.

CAMO Founder and CEO Kathy Tschiegg described one plastic surgery case that stood out, “He was a prefect little baby boy whose eyes would smile when we spoke to him. The exceptions to his perfection were the multiple deformities of the face,” said Tschiegg.

“His one ear was a skin tab. He had a cleft lip and palette. The area for his mouth extended to the jaw joint with skin tabs at each side of his face.”

“I asked God to bring someone to help him,” said Jenny Rosario Hernandez, his 22-year old mother.

The baby was given back to the mother after surgery and she wept uncontrollably. The team thought perhaps her expectation had not been met.

“It was very emotional. My child is so beautiful. I had so much joy that I could not stop crying,” Jenny said when she saw her son for the first time after surgery. Later she asked for a photograph of Sergio and said she had never wanted a photograph before.

Since 1993, CAMO has renovated the Hospital de Occidente, public health and community buildings and continually expanded to now offer 17 healthcare programs in Santa Rosa de Copan.

CAMO, a humanitarian aid organization based in Orrville, Ohio, cares for more than 143,000 medical needs with an average of $2 million in donated medical supplies, equipment and expertise annually.

To learn more about CAMO, visit: www.CAMO.org

-- Stephany Craig