Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian University, 1996 Page: 68
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19 9 6 Prickly Pear
iSurgeon spes /at bar
Surgeon speaks at barbecuer. Richard High, an Amarillo plastic surgeon,
was the featured speaker at the Honors Program
annual fall barbecue.
High is a 1975 graduate of ACU and a 1981 graduate
of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
School. He was chief resident in plastic reconstructive
and hand surgery at the University of Cincinnati in
1987-88.
The theme of High's program was "Giving
Something Back."
He has made five trips to Third World countries on
behalf of Interplast, an organization of plastic surgeons
that provides reconstructive surgery to repair birth
deformities, burs and crippling injuries of children.
The Interplast volunteer medical teams travel to host
countries to perform surgeries on site.
They perform as many as 160 free surgeries during a
two-week trip. High said they see patients whose
deformities are so severe they will require multiple
surgeries.
The Interplast mission is to take care of people who
can't pay and provide medical training and teaching in
developing countries. High said, "People line up for
two or three days to receive medical attention and -
even though they don't have money - they pay you
back with their grateful eyes," High said.
The program is based solely on volunteer donations.
Interplast has raised $4.2 million in donated medical
services and members have visited 26 countries.
High has many experiences but his most memorable
experience was a little girl who fell into a fire pit when
she was 3-years-old. "Her lip has grown down into her
chest. We could not put her to sleep when we performed
the surgery, and I remembered the tears running
down her face. After the surgery was completed
and we were packing to leave, this little girl came running
over to me and gave me a kiss," High said.
Thousands of children are too ashamed to go to
school or live a normal life because of their deformities,
High said.
He has traveled to Peru, Ecuador and the Philippines
and said he will continue in his Interplast mission to
help children.
The ACU Honors Program competed its 12th year,
and has more than 1,000 students in their academic
majors.
Dr. Chris Willerton, Honors Program director said,
"We have made a strong push into our second decade
emphasizing each Christian's response to serve othersA Dr. Richard High teaching local surgeons in LaUnion, Philippines (Photo courtesy
of Richard High).professionally and to cultivate a global consciousness."
Graduating seniors who finished the Honors Program
requirements were Cynthia Beam, Tiffany Cosper,
Sybil Johnson, Christine McMackins, Lane Pittard
and Kenyon Williams.ennifer Riddle
68 AcJatncr HP Fall BBQ
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Abilene Christian University. Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian University, 1996, yearbook, 1996; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39892/m1/71/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.