‘The Surgery Ship’ TV Series

Julien with Deborah Adesanya, one of her patients featuring in the upcoming TV series ‘The Surgery Ship’

‘The Surgery Ship’ TV Series features work done by NZ Volunteers - Starts December 1.

Hadleigh Reid has volunteered his dental surgery skills on the Mercy Ship in West Africa three times but another Whanganui volunteer, Deborah Adesanya, will have one of her patients feature in the upcoming TV series ‘The Surgery Ship’ screening on National Geographic.

Former WHS student Deborah initially volunteered for five weeks as a paediatric nurse but ended up staying for 20 weeks. Caring for children recovering from major surgery was Deborah’s primary assignment. Some of her most poignant moments were with the tiny patients receiving surgery to correct birth defects like cleft lip and palate. Each child was accompanied by a caregiver during their operations and recovery on board ship.

One of her patients, Julien, features in the documentary. He suffered from a massive facial tumour that, in New Zealand, would be removed when the problem was still small. But due to the lack of access to healthcare services, many medical conditions such as Julien’s have become extreme and life threatening. 

The Mercy Ship and her crew feature in the eight-part National Geographic series ‘The Surgery Ship on SKY channel 072, beginning on Friday, December 1 at 7.30pm. Julien’s case will feature in the first episode.

The documentary series won the Best Human Interest category at the Association for International Broadcasting Awards in London on November 2. Commissioned by National Geographic Channel this series follows volunteer medics on board the Mercy Ships. The work is described as follows: “Courageous ingenuity and innovative techniques combined with enormous compassion brings healing to the life-threatening tumours, deformed limbs, congenital defects and severe burns their patients arrive on board with.”

Judging from the talk given by Hadleigh Reid of his experience on board the Mercy Ship, this TV series will not only be fascinating but also positive and heart-warming.