Simon Eccles: Separating Twins, Saving Lives
Simon Eccles is a member of the team of Doctors who work for the ‘Facing the World’ Charity that provides life-changing surgery in England to children with severe facial disfigurement in the world’s poorest countries. Simon is also one of the doctors who travels abroad to provide training to doctors and medical staff so that children can have these treatments in their own countries.
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ABOUT Simon Eccles
“Simon is Consultant Craniofacial Surgeon at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. Last year he was one of the team of surgeons who successfully operated on the conjoined Sudanese infants Rital and Ritag Gaboura at great Ormond Street Hospital.
There can be many reasons for childhood disfigurement. Some children are disfigured from birth because their parents carry a hidden gene; others are exposed to environmental pollutants before they are born.
Sometimes the reason isn’t obvious. Some start their lives healthy but are struck down by tumours and accidents. Whatever the cause, the result is the same: a child with a disfigurement can be excluded, isolated and stigmatised. Perhaps more important are the deep emotional and psychological scars that run with it.
Such children born in the West often have access to excellent health care, to surgeons, and to the counsellors needed to build their confidence. Children in poor countries do not.”
The VIDEO
1. Website: Facing the World 2. Facing the World: How to Help
