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I
talian surgeons Dr. Roberto DeCa-
tro and Dr. Aurelie Chiappinelli have
returned to Vietnam to work with
American-Vietnamese surgeon Dr.
Tue Dinh, on free genital reconstruc-
tion surgeries.
Having examined and evaluated
more than 25 children, 15 operations
were completed by the Italian/Vietnam-
ese-American team in Hanoi. The doc-
tors and their team then travelled to Da-
nang and Ho Chi Minh City to examine
patients there. This helped to reduce
the risks caused by extensive travelling
after surgery, as well as the travel fees
and accommodation costs for families.
The medical mission is organised
under the Thien Nhan & Friends pro-
gram which aims to fund surgery for
poor Vietnamese children with severe
genital birth defects or genital trau-
matic injuries.
This was the fifth medical mission
organised by Thien Nhan & Friends,
a group which was originally founded
to help Thien Nhan, a baby boy whose
genitals were destroyed after being
abandoned in a jungle at birth and se-
verely mauled by wild animals.
Over the past three years, Ital-
ian surgeon Dr. Roberto Decastro and
American-Vietnamese surgeon Dr. Tue
Dinh have operated on 60 Vietnamese
children and examined 215 others. Dr.
DeCastro and Dr. Tue Dinh are joined
by Italian surgeon Dr. Aurelie Chiappi-
nelli who also works as a volunteer. Last
summer, this team rebuilt the genitals
of 14 young boys and 6 girls.
The foreign surgeons are donating
their time, free of charge, while Thien
Nhan & Friends is run entirely by volun-
teers. All funds raised go to support the
children’s surgeries and examinations,
along with travel costs and medical sup-
plies.
Vinmec Hospital in Hanoi donated
the required surgical theaters in the
north; the Danang Hospital for Women
and Children gave facilities in Danang;
and the Children’s Hospital No.2 was
used in Ho Chi Minh City.
The surgeries not only rebuild geni-
tals so that they look normal, they also
allow children to urinate and live with-
out pain or shame. This is a rare pediat-
ric medical condition, and traditionally
the medical solution has been to trans-
form little boys into girls, usually with
tragic results.
With the new DeCastro Phalloplas-
ty, child urology has been revolution-
ized and the support from the local
community has been fantastic, with
families now more confident and open
about their child’s situation, which helps
other families to also come forward.
Rebuilding
lives
9
timeout