Surgeon returns after stint on medical charity ship

Posted by Contributing source on Jan 04, 2012 at 09:11 am

Editor's Note: The following article was reposted with permission from cambridge-news.co.uk. Please do not repost without permission.

A SURGEON is back home in Cambridge after performing life-saving operations on board a giant African hospital ship.

Leo Cheng, a consultant specialising in mouth and face reconstruction, spent two weeks on the Africa Mercy, a ship moored off the coast of Sierra Leone.

The vessel is owned by Mercy Ships, an international charity that provides floating hospitals to help poor people in the developing world.

Dr Cheng carried out surgery on people suffering from large tumours, cleft lips and war wounds.

The ships also do other key operations, including orthopaedic surgery, ophthalmic surgery – especially for cataracts and squints – and gynaecological surgery.

The mercy mission is not Dr Cheng’s first. He has worked on several Mercy Ships, and last year was joined by his daughter, Kat, who volunteered as a catering assistant.

Kat also served as an eye clinic assistant in war-torn Liberia two years ago, and three years ago, Dr Cheng’s wife Hilary, a Methodist minister, also volunteered as a chaplain for patients and carers both on board the Africa Mercy, and ashore.

Crew members on the ships, including the captain, surgeons, nurses, dentists, hygienists, chef, engineers, electricians and cleaning staff, are volunteers who pay for their own accommodation on board and transport to the ship.

 The Africa Mercy has a 78-bed ward and six operating theatres.

Dr Cheng, who works at Barts in London and also practises in Cambridge, said: “Publicity in the UK often focuses on a few desperate patients being flown here for reconstructive facial surgery. But with Mercy Ships, we provide western quality treatment for patients in the poorest countries of the world, on their doorstep. Ninety of the world’s biggest cities are port cities, offering easy access to the ship for people without health care.”

Mercy Ships received £1,160 raised by Choir 2000, the Histon and Impington community choir, which gave concerts.

Dr Cheng will speak about the Mercy Ship on January 26, at 7.25pm at Histon Methodist Church Hall.

chris.elliott@cambridge-news.co.uk

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