Dedicated surgeon, Mr Gary Parker, has spent almost four decades volunteering as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon for international healthcare charity, Mercy Ships. Earlier this year, Mr Parker returned to the UK to give the prestigious Norman Rowe Lecture on invitation from the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
Originally from California and trained at UCLA, Mr Parker moved to the UK in the 1980s and spent five transformative years working at the Glan Clwyd Hospital in North Wales, which he credits as the turning point in his career.
It was while he was working in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital that Mr Parker heard about Mercy Ships, a pioneering international health charity that operates hospital ships delivering free surgeries, training and healthcare services to those in need. In 1986, Mr Parker signed up for a three-month volunteering stint, a decision that would set the course of his life’s work.
“During those first three months of volunteering, the people I encountered from Mercy Ships deeply impressed me with their vision to help the world’s poorest,” explains Mr Parker. “Meeting patients who lacked access to safe, timely, and affordable surgery underscored the importance of the education and training that I had the opportunity to receive.
“The statistics transformed into real human beings whose stories I listened to, making their needs very real to me. These daily experiences motivated me to extend my commitment to stay with Mercy Ships for what has now turned out to be the entirety of my professional life.”
Over almost four decades, Mr Parker served on three Mercy Ships, performing thousands of surgeries in 18 countries and often in challenging conditions. In 1987 Mr Parker met his wife, Susan on board and together, they raised their two children, who spent their entire childhood aboard a Mercy Ship in Africa.
Mr Parker’s commitment to using his skills to serve others, has had a life-changing impact on countless women, men and children primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Twenty years ago, I first met a young girl called Hawa in Sierra Leone,” remembers Mr Parker. “She had a fast-growing tumour on her upper jaw. She had to take small meals through a straw, and she was struggling to breathe. It was threatening her life, and her community were beginning to lose hope.
“But Hawa came to us and we performed her surgery. I still remember the smile on her father’s face. I’ve had the chance to meet her again – now a determined young woman studying diligently to become a nurse.”
Hawa’s story is not unusual. Safe surgery is out of reach for 9 out of 10 people in sub-Saharan Africa. People are robbed of years of healthy life, for conditions that are easily treatable. Mercy Ships expert crew give their time and talents on board the largest charity hospital ships in the world, the Global Mercy and the Africa Mercy. Volunteer surgeons, like Mr Parker, nurses, cooks, engineers and teachers come from around the globe to give patients vital medical care.
In partnership with African nations, Mercy Ships train healthcare professionals and build stronger medical services, creating change for decades to come.
“Forty years ago, I thought the concept of taking surgical services to people who had no other way to get treatment was brilliant,” says Mr Parker, “Now four decades later we’ve seen a drastic reduction in untreated cleft conditions in some regions and far fewer large tumours, because we reach patients earlier. And throughout all these years, we’ve been training African surgeons to build local capacity.
“However, we recognise that skill-building alone isn’t enough. While we have initiatives to train in biomedical equipment maintenance, broader infrastructure challenges such as inconsistent electricity and lack of essential medical supplies must also be addressed to ensure sustainable health care delivery. We see first-hand that even the most skilled surgeons cannot succeed without a functioning healthcare ecosystem.”
Reflecting on his life's work, Mr Parker says: "I'm honoured to receive this opportunity to present the Norman Rowe Lecture. I see it as a tribute to the courageous patients who trust us and the Mercy Ships teams who serve with such dedication. Together, we’ve seen that when compassionate surgery meets human resilience, lives are restored and dignity reawakened, reflecting the hope and healing at the heart of our shared mission."
Over the past year, 158 volunteers from the UK have served with Mercy Ships on board the world’s two largest non-governmental hospital ships, the Africa Mercy and the Global Mercy, working alongside surgeons like Gary to bring essential surgical care to those in need.
