A special challenge awaited CTOverseas during its mission in 2017 at Children's Hospital No. 1 in St. Petersburg. Prof. Dr. med. Martin Lacher traveled with specialists from Germany, the USA, the Netherlands, England, and Israel to support Russian pediatric surgeons in highly complex procedures—and at the same time, to share their knowledge.
One story particularly illustrates why this mission is so important: A grandmother traveled 1,600 miles so her granddaughter could be operated on in St. Petersburg. The baby suffered from a rare malformation with a duplicated colon and two vaginas. The treating doctors in Georgia told her: "Only Dr. Levitt's team (Ohio) from CTOverseas can help – if they manage to schedule the surgery at short notice." Thanks to the great flexibility of the international team, the girl could still be operated on at the last moment. The procedure was successful, and the odyssey of grandmother and granddaughter found a happy end. During the two weeks of the mission, the team treated a total of fifteen children and newborns with malformations, tumors, or fractures. Every operation had two goals: to enable the young patients to have a life worth living – and to expand the expertise of their Russian colleagues. Over 40 surgeons from all over Russia could be connected live during the procedures, accompanied by seminars, workshops, and direct knowledge transfer in surgical techniques, anesthesia, and nursing. What remains is more than just medical aid: a long-term cooperation between CTOverseas and the St. Petersburg hospital, happy families, 15 successfully operated children, new skills for local doctors – and seven large sea bags full of plush toys that the US pediatric surgeons had brought as a small message of hope.
