This week, Tom, Georgie and I headed to Children’s Surgical Centre in Cambodia to see first hand the charity we would be looking to help through our North Pole Challenge. Our aim is simple, we are hoping to raise enough funds to provide for 2,500 operations and this trip was to give the guys an opportunity to meet the team at CSC.
Arriving on Monday night, we were at CSC by Tuesday morning at 8am and on the rounds with Dr Jim. The hospital was at half strength, as the US Navy hospital ship Mercy was in Cambodia and CSC had provided 75 staff to assist. This was my fifth trip this year with CSC being the charity Vanda Promotions also supports but it was no less interesting. After morning rounds and Dr Jim showing the guys what was going to be on the rosta for the theatre that morning, Tom elected to view some surgery and Georgie and I went with Jim as he worked his way through the cases that had arrived this morning. As always it was fascinating with a wide variety of children and young adults with anything from genetic or neurological disorders through to non union bone breaks. Jim, as always, dispensed his judgement with compassion to the patients and a sense of purpose to the surgical team.
After lunch we elected for some theatre time and witnessed the insertion of a bar down the tibular of a man that had lived with a severely broken leg for 18 years. What is worse is that he was delivered by the US medical team as someone who needed an amputation. One hour later and following a lot of banging with a hammer, the job was completed. The following day, we actually witnesses this man walking !
That evening, we had dinner with Jim and his wife and caught up on other stuff. Jim has two brothers and a sister in California where I head tomorrow so we were organising to see them. We got to understand the challenges CSC was having at present and that they had been granted permission to build an extension that would allow them to increase the work they were doing.
The following morning saw Georgie and Tom spend the time with Dr Jim on his rounds as well as assessing the intake for the day. They got to understand the incredible range of surgeries CSC will undertake, as well as see for themselves how life changing these free operations can be for the children. It wasn’t always easy for them to to accept what they saw but they both got a great understanding of the skills the team at CSC has.
That afternoon we travelled to the Cambodian Acid Survivors house about 45 mins from the city. CASC is part of the CSC and is home to survivors of the horrific acid attacks that take place in Cambodia. I had the opportunity in 2008 and 09 to see the old CASC house and in 2010 my visits have allowed me to see the incredible progress at the new home that allows survivors to get physical, mental and psychological therapy .
All in all the trip cemented our resolve to make the challenge worthwhile by supporting CSC. The added benefit was the time we got to spend together which was good natured, full of humour and supportive. We are three very different people but similar in many ways. We clearly get on with each other and we can already see we bond well as a team. In the airport on Wednesday, as we prepared to travel home, we enjoyed reviewing and lambasting the web sites of the competitors we would face at the pole. There will be many well prepared teams with youth and in some cases experience on their side but I for one, would not bet against Team CSC. This team is talented, driven and competitive and driven by a purpose that is well beyond a winners trophy.
