January 29, 2001
Buckner aids Chinese orphans coming
to Texas for facial surgery
___By Scott Collins
___Buckner News Service
___DALLAS--While North Texas media focused last week on the story of five Chinese orphans scheduled to undergo facial surgeries at Medical City Dallas Hospital, Baptists worked quietly behind the scenes to help the children.
___The Chinese orphans arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Jan. 22 and metthe volunteer families who are providing homes for them and their caregivers while they are in Dallas.
THE CHINESE CHILDREN arrive at Dallas-Fort Woth International Airport where they were met by host families.
___The orphans are staying in homes provided through Buckner Orphan Care International.
___The children, ages 20 months to 9 years, are from an orphanage in Shanghai that has received humanitarian aid from Buckner, including new shoes from the Shoes for Orphan Souls project. Last October, Buckner Orphan Care International delivered more than 5,500 pairs of new shoes and other humanitarian relief to several orphanages in China.
___Surgeries for the children were scheduled to begin Jan. 25 at Medical City. The children were brought to the United States under sponsorship of Grace Children's Foundation of New York, which partners with Buckner to provide humanitarian relief for Chinese orphans.
___"It is a joy for Buckner to be a part of what will be life-changing surgeries for these children," said Mike Douris, vice president for Buckner Orphan Care International. "We have been so pleased with the response we have received as we sought to find host families for the children and their caregivers."
___Jeffrey Fearon, a craniofacial surgeon at North Texas Hospital for Children at Medical City, will perform the surgeries.
___Grace Children's Foundation identified the five children through its work to improve the lives of orphans in China. The foundation arranged to transport the orphans to Texas with free airline passage provided by Northwest Airlines. The mission marks the second time Northwest has helped the foundation bring orphans to the United States for surgery.
___One child will have her nose completely reconstructed in a complex two-step surgery. Another suffers from a rare bone tumor that may require delicate surgery around the optic nerve. One child was born with a rare condition that causes her eyelids to be mere slits. Another will undergo laser surgery on severe facial discolorations.
___Medical City is donating the operating room costs and care for the children.
___Along with Fearon, other doctors donating services include Michael Bannon, a pediatric anesthesiologist specializing in craniofacial surgeries, and several pediatric intensivists and staff members of the Dallas Craniofacial Center.
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