“The reality is we win a lotto in life. We're either born here where we've got access to essential healthcare or we're born somewhere else where we don't.”

Cameron Glover

CEO
Interplast Australia

PNG.2018

Paia Kukim - said out loud :
' Fire Cook Em ' is Tok-Pisin, one of the multitude of languages in Papua New Guinea.

This was my introduction to Lemeck, a brave young man who has been horrifically burnt as a child, with both hands sealed under scar tissue and his left cheek fused to his left shoulder. The next few days watching his transformation is something I will never forget. In this moment, he is about to undergo surgery he has waited 20 years for.

Tonga.2017

A 18 month year old with Syndactyly is examimed - a condition where hands and feet are webbed. On top of the malnutrition, clefted lip and palate this young man faces many challenges.

His treatment plan will take several operations, and many years to complete and it's the relationship of trust that parents have to keep bring their children back which forms a vital part of this exchange.

Mongolia.2017

This was my first encounter with a patient who's entire life had been defined by burn. Instead of being victimised after a oil burn as a child, he studied and became a social worker to help others.

There was nothing Interplast could do for him physically, but more offer emotional support which is another vital part of care.

PNG. 2018

In Vanimo, a small village in northern Papua New Guinea, a young boy waits for surgery.

At first this situation looks ordinary, but in reality it was everthing but.

That morning we had an incredible storm, that broke a tree that was 3 stories high - which in turn smashed the power lines feeding the hospital.

With no back up generator, the theatre lies in the dark.

5 patients that day lost the OPPORTUNITY to have their surgery, as the surgical team would never return.