Celebrate Father's Day
Father’s Day will be extra special this year for surgeon Leo Cheng as he and his 18-year-old daughter Kat will be preparing for a six week trip together to volunteer on the world’s largest charity hospital ship.
The father and daughter from Cambridge are heading to Togo in West Africa at the beginning of July to volunteer for the international charity Mercy Ships which provides free medical care and humanitarian aid via its hospital ship the Africa Mercy.
The trip will be Leo’s sixth time volunteering as a maxillo-facial surgeon on the ship, where he provides corrective and reconstructive surgery to people suffering from large tumours, cleft lips and war wounds.
Kat, who visited the ship with her father in 2008, will be volunteering in the ship’s dining room, helping to cook for and serve the 450 volunteers on board the ship who range from surgeons and nurses to engineers and deck hands.
Leo, a Consultant Oral and Facial Reconstructive Surgeon in London and Cambridge said, “We will make the most of Father’s Day at home before we head off to the ship in Togo, where daily life is very different.
“When patients have extensive facial and neck tumours removed, they show a mixture of emotions. You watch them feeling and checking and rechecking their faces again and again. They want to make sure that the big lump that has been with them for such a long time has truly gone.
“Publicity in the UK often focuses on a few patients being flown into the UK for reconstructive facial surgery but with Mercy Ships, we provide western quality treatment for patients in the poorest countries of the world, on their door step.
“The Africa Mercy is a truly special place and sharing my experiences on board with my daughter makes it even more special.”
Speaking about their impending trip, Kat said, “When I visited the Africa Mercy two years ago I was struck by the enormity of the ship and the level of care it was providing and I knew I wanted to go back.
“Thankfully there are so many different jobs on the ship that I am able to volunteer in the dining room, helping to feed the hundreds of selfless volunteers from around the world who are on the ship. People think that only doctors and nurses are needed but the rest of us keep the ship running to allow the hospital staff to do their life-changing work.
“I do hope to be a midwife or a physiotherapist one day and so my time on the ship will be invaluable as I will be able to spend time with the medical crews as well.
“I am so excited about being part of such a unique group of people and to sharing it all with my dad.”
Judy Polkinhorn, Executive Director of Mercy Ships UK said: “Volunteers are very precious to us. It is their dedication and hard work that makes it possible for Mercy Ships to help improve the lives of so many.
“It important to remember that many of our volunteers are fathers, with children back in the UK and other countries around the world, and they will be thinking about their children and their own parents on this special day.”