The biggest warzone that Nancy Hairston typically faces is the daily traffic on Central Expressway to and from her MedCAD headquarters and design studio near Fair Park.
She recently returned from real ones in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and Livi, about 90 miles away from the Ukrainian/Polish border as part of a U.S. mission to restore vision of victims mauled by Russian missiles and drones.
Hairston, owner and CEO of MedCAD, makes one-of-a-kind implants for traumatic injuries and provides detailed surgical plans for their implantation.
Nancy Hairston, president and CEO of Dallas-based MedCAD, top row second from the left, and Jorge Corona, Dallas oculoplastic surgeon, top row forth from the left, with members of the “Vision for Ukraine” mission at the warzone entry to Kyiv.
Courtesy MedCAD
Jorge Corona, a Dallas ophthalmologist who specializes in oculoplastic and orbital surgery, was on his fourth mission to Ukraine. He’d delivered MedCAD’s donated implants and surgical plans twice before, but this was the first time Hairston traveled 6,000 miles with him to participate.
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This year’s U.S. team, which also included three reconstructive and ocular surgeons from other parts of the country, operated alongside Ukrainian doctors and nurses under the constant threat of ballistic missile attack.
They had an app on their phones signaling in real time that a Russian attack was imminent and to seek immediate shelter.
“The Ukrainians are smart and very capable doctors,” Corona said. “Being there with them shows that they have not been forgotten.”
These missions, Vision for Ukraine, were made possible by Dallas-based LEAP Global Missions, which sponsors teams to deliver care to underserved international communities.
Most of the 50 or so surgeries performed during this mission involved eye sockets, eyeballs and facial injuries.
Hairston provided implants and surgical plans for five patients who had gaping holes in their skulls and jaws, working in the operating room with the combined surgical teams.
All told, MedCAD has donated devices for 16 patients in the three missions that would have cost a total of nearly $200,000.
She met the Ukrainian soldier who received two MedCAD implants a year ago to repair the orbital floor where his prosthetic eyeball sits and a cheek implant for his crushed face. “He speaks perfect English,” Hairston said. “He was incredibly grateful, and it was so special to hear that.”
She had a few takeaways from what she describes as a life-changing experience.
First and foremost, Hairston was shocked to see that the major cities aren’t “a smoldering hellscape.”
“Both Lviv and Kyiv are functioning, bustling, busy towns that if you were visiting from another planet, you wouldn’t necessarily know that there was a war going on,” she said. “It was a revelation to see people in cafes, living their lives — even though they’re living under a lot of stress.
“It also blows my mind that to most people in the United States, it seems like this is happening on the moon.
“Another thing is that this is like World War I. They are literally fighting on the front line in the eastern part of the country — gaining 50 yards today, and losing 100 yards tomorrow. It’s like trench warfare, only with drones.
“We keep saying the ‘Ukrainian War,’ but this is a terrorist invasion with ballistic missiles hitting apartment buildings, just because the Russians can — but again, it’s not a smoldering hellscape.”
Jorge Corona, Dallas oculoplastic surgeon, and Nancy Hairston, president and CEO of Dallas-based MedCAD, look over plans for a facial reconstruction surgery during the “Vision for Ukraine” mission in early December.
Courtesy MedCAD
Her overarching remembrance is this:
“The absolute lightness of these people working with everything they’re dealing with is such a testament to what’s important in life,” she said. “They’re focused on making these people look similar to how they used to look and giving them back their dignity and humanity.
“Being a bystander and a witness, that was incredibly moving.”
And, yes, Hairston plans to go back.
So does Corona.