Surgeon Omar Al-Bareini is a podiatric surgeon who spent long periods of training in the United Kingdom and the United States. He has also attended multiple courses internationally in Germany, Hong Kong, and Jakarta.
He is a member of Towards Hope, an Australian association of volunteering doctors who help those in need in Lebanon and Palestine. He travels with a delegation constituting of 2 British doctors and 1 doctor from the United States. Together, they inspect and perform surgeries for free whenever they are needed.
This doctor donates his knowledge, skill, and time to helping people who cannot afford surgeries, in order to provide a better quality of life for those who have suffered injuries and have been waiting for someone to bear the cost of their surgery.
Most of these patients who cannot afford the surgical costs wait until it is too late for their Limbs to be saved. He and other donors have helped in paying the costs for metal bars so that the team completes the operation.
According to one of the Habtoor hospitals where Dr. Bareini has dedicated his time to do most surgeries: “The Australian and British Doctors’ Committee assisted orthopedics and neurosurgeons Dr. Haytham Samad, Dr. Khaled Khaled, Dr. Essam Hammoud, and Dr. Bilal Salah El-Din conducting inspections and surgeries for patients suffering from bone problems, arthritis, disc, and neuritis, with good success. Medical services were provided, including an examination of 120 patients 20 x-rays.”
In his interview with SBS, he said: “I wish I could help everyone, and I am a lot happier if I can change a person’s life, but if only we could help everyone, this is a very unfortunate thing.” Dr. Baarini hopes that more doctors would join this very noble cause and help those who can’t afford healthcare.
More and more people are contributing in hopes of a better Lebanon. As the healthcare system is failing, the prices are going up, and people are not able to afford their basic needs. Doctors like Omar and his team are a beacon of hope to all those sick people who have given up.
