The founder and senior medical director of the 约翰一. 莫兰眼科中心's Global Outreach Di愿景, 艾伦 S. 克兰德尔博士, is the only physician to receive humanitarian awards from all three major ophthalmology organizations, and he's just received his fourth as the inaugural American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Foundation Chang Humanitarian Award winner. 为了纪念这一时刻, here are a few behind-the-scenes stories we don't often share about what makes him so unique.
艾伦会告诉你他爸爸, 犹他州最早的眼科医生之一, was reluctant to charge anyone who didn't have the means to pay for his services and would often take payment in the form of a chicken or two. A colleague who has worked with 克兰德尔 from the beginning of his career says that "If 艾伦 could get away with extending that same kindness to local patients in need today, 他会这么做的."
Then there's the time he performed the first cataract surgery on a gorilla named Gorgeous at Salt Lake City's Hogle Zoo. He donated his surgical expertise and arranged for a donated lens and equipment.
But most of the stories about 克兰德尔 involve his legendary stamina on 外展 trips treating curable blindness around the globe. Ask anyone who has accompanied him on one of these trips and you'll hear the same refrain: "Tanzania, 密克罗尼西亚, 危地马拉, 南苏丹, 尼泊尔, 海地 . . . 克兰德尔 never stops, never eats, and never even takes a break. 他从不说“不”.“他只是继续前进."
Here's how a few of his colleagues describe the experience:
"A 莫兰眼科中心 surgical 外展 camp is a sight to behold. The stresses on a team are immmense: hours sometimes days of travel, 语言障碍, 新设备, 临时手术室, and the most advanced and complex cataracts most surgeons will ever see in their careers. 增加时差反应, 睡眠不足, and food and bacteria they are meeting for the first time, and it's enough to bring the strongest team members to their knees. Despite all of the complexity and moving parts, you can always count on one thing: the ‘Energizer bunny' that never stops. The seemingly super human who defies the rules that govern the rest of us is 艾伦 克兰德尔 never breaking, 工作和教学."
-Jeff Pettey, MD, Co-Medical Director, Moran Outreach Di愿景
"One of his colleagues, Bob Cionni, MD, says that ‘艾伦 is the luckiest unlucky person I know.' As one of 艾伦's siblings, I have to agree. Events that would sideline most people don't seem to faze our big brother. He fractured his cervical spine 15-plus years ago skiing. 然而，他在一周内就回到了工作岗位. The second time he broke his neck he was in a bus, on a bumpy road in Ghana when a 40-pound phaco machine dislodged from the luggage rack and hit him in the back of the neck. Fortunately, the 外展 mission was over, but he was still back at work within a few days."
-Ann Bagley， CCRC， CRA
"Our initial trip to the Federated States of 密克罗尼西亚 Tanzania involved traveling more than 24 hours to reach our first stop. 从那里, we boarded a 120-foot cargo ship and were supposed to boat a mere 18 hours to our final destination. 然而, rough seas and stormy weather required the captain to slow the ship, 坐了18个小时之后, 睡觉, and balancing ourselves on the cargo hold doors, the captain announced it would be another 18 hours.
We arrived at dawn near a tropical island that seemed deserted. After anchoring in the lagoon about a quarter mile from shore, we unloaded the contents of a complete operating room (OR) onto small boats and then hauled all of the equipment and supplies through the sand to the middle of the island. There, we set up the OR in temperatures well over 90 degrees with nearly 100 percent humidity. 艾伦 helped every step of the way and then operated in these conditions for 8-10 hours for 3 days, 真的是汗流浃背. Each evening we would return to the cargo ship in tiny boats and make the two-story vertical climb up the ship's side stairways. 然而, on the second evening, stormy weather made it too dangerous to use the stairs.
于是，剧组放下了绳梯. The small boats pulled up close to the ladder, 随着船上下颠簸, each team member stood on the slippery bow and timed the rise and fall so they could jump to the rope ladder and hold on for dear life ever careful not to fall between the ship and the boat or risk getting crushed.
艾伦, with two artificial knees and an artificial hip, 脖子上有螺丝, made the leap (immediately followed by Dr. Jeff Pettey who was told to sacrifice his life for 艾伦's). They both slowly climbed the swinging rope ladder two stories to the ship's deck.
This is not your ordinary day in surgery. This is not your ordinary commute to work and home. This is, however, a typical day for 艾伦 克兰德尔 when he is doing his humanitarian work."
-Michael Yei, Moran Global Outreach Di愿景 Director
他为什么要这么做? In his words, "The work we do improves the life of the patient. We gain new friends; we always learn from other cultures. It keeps me humble and happy to know I'm helping to make a difference."