As Interplast celebrates 40 years of healing we’d like to revisit some of the patients we’ve treated throughout the years. Today, we remember Tomas, whose life was touched by Interplast nearly 30 years ago.
Tomas was 8 years old when with the help of Interplast he arrived at Stanford Medical Center. During Interplast’s early days, bringing children to the United States for specialized medical attention was part of the Interplast model—that is no longer the case. A year prior, while playing near his home in the outskirts of Tijuana, Tomas was terribly disfigured when a can of paint thinner exploded in his face. Unable to close his eyes and mouth because of the scar tissue, Tomas was brought to the United States by Interplast’s founder Dr. Donald R. Laub to release the contractures. Though his face would never return to what it once was, the series of surgeries he endured would allow, as news reporter Henry Alfaro put it, “[Tomas to] resume a life free of ridicule and embarrassment, [where] he can get out of the habit of wearing the kind of cap he can pull down over his face.”
Watch a
20 minute video about Tomas courtesy of Channel 7 Eyewitness News.
In 40 years Interplast has performed 80,000 surgeries, profoundly changing the lives of children like Tomas throughout the world.
