Plastic Surgeon Performs Over 32,000 Free Surgeries To Help Kids Smile

November 10, 2021

A world renowned plastic surgeon and his team have performed over 32,000 free cleft-palate surgeries to help children smile again.

Dr. Subodh Kumar Singh

Dr. Subodh Kumar Singh rose from very humble beginnings. He was just 13 years old when he lost his father, Gyan Singh, in 1979.

After his father's death, his family lived in extreme poverty.

"Along with my elder brothers, I sold homemade soaps and was often insulted when I asked for settling our dues," he recalled.

Things began to turn around in 1982 when his older brothers pitched in to pay for Singh's medical entrance exams. He went on to earn an M.B.B.S (an international medical degree equivalent to an M.D. in the US) from Banaras Hindu University in 1988, a Master of Surgery in 1991 and a Master of Chirurgiae in plastic surgery in 1994.

In 2001, Dr. Singh established GS Memorial Plastic Surgery Hospital in the memory of his father to provide state of the art reconstructive plastic surgery to the needy patients at a very affordable cost.

The hospital partnered with Smile Train, a charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates.

"Since 2008-09, we annually perform 4,000-plus free cleft surgeries under this initiative," Dr. Singh said.

To date, more than 32,000 free cleft surgery and thousands other cleft surgery have been performed at his center under his leadership.

"In every cleft child who has come to me, I have visualized that little Subodh, who lost his father when he was only 13," says Dr. Singh. "My father Gyan Singh and mother Giriraj Kumari (she died last year) taught me to serve the poor and live ethically. I feel God made me a plastic surgeon and not a businessman to serve a divine cause."

Dr. Singh and his team have also performed 6,000 free extensive burn surgeries. His efforts inspired the making of Burned Girl (2015), the National Geographic documentary that won international awards for detailing the life of nine-year-old Ragini, whose childhood burns were treated surgically by Dr. Singh.

Watch the video below.