Dr. Lisa's "Gift":
Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, January 13 and March 2, 2008
Show 502

Health Corner host Dr. Lisa Thornton visited Zambia with her husband two years ago, providing medical care to a group of children as part of World Vision. She spotted a little boy whose distorted face caught her attention. A piece of roof from a hut had broken off during a storm and hit him, breaking both his arms, shaving off portions of his face and leaving him unable to fully open or close his mouth. "It was obvious he needed a lot of reconstructive surgery," says Dr. Lisa. "I was so taken by him and so I said, we should bring him to the US. I'm sure we can get him some plastic surgery."  And so they did.  Dr. Lisa contacted two surgeon friends, Dr. Larry Gotley and Dr. Roger Pilot, who performed a number of procedures. Here's Dr. Lisa's report on how Gift is doing today: "Santa brought Gift a bike for Christmas which we will ship home with him.  In his village it will not be a toy, but an important mode of transportation for his family and possibly HIV workers who travel from village to village. We took him ice skating for the first time ever.   Within the first 10 minutes he didn't want any support and by the end of the first hour he got it!   It was amazing!   We're heading to Disney World later in January.  His next surgery will be February 8 and I hope to get one more in before his return home in May."