For spinal surgeon Leonel Hunt, MD, and neurosurgeon Gabriel Hunt, MD, performing advanced surgeries is an everyday event and critical in saving lives. But the two brothers, both of whom practice at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, felt it was time to take their expertise to a place in great need – Gabon, West Africa.
“This is something we’ve always wanted to do—philanthropic work to help those who can’t help themselves,” says Leonel.
In Gabon, like in most African countries, complex spine surgery is rarely performed. The nation has an extreme lack of trained orthopedic and neurological spine surgeons and limited resources to purchase expensive medical equipment or spinal implants.
The Hunt Foundation is actively involved in training surgeons in Gabon on advanced spine surgeries to bring about greater equity in healthcare to the people of the country. Our efforts include purchasing equipment and implants, updating hospitals with modern equipment, and training surgeons on the surgical techniques and processes commonly used in the USA. The needs in Gabon are severe, with many patients unable to have life-saving surgeries, and we are working diligently to help the medical professionals in the country gain access to the training and equipment they need to treat patients.
For Leonel, one of the major problems was having enough light to see. During one surgery, he was forced to put a flashlight on his forehead because the overhead lights were so poor. Gabon has infrastructure issues that lead to frequent blackouts that can occur during surgery, adding to the challenges faced by the doctors. Despite the challenges, Leonel says the triumphs they had in Gabon far outweighed the challenges. For example, they performed two traumatic spinal surgeries. Without those surgeries, the patients would more than likely have died.
“Living in Beverly Hills, where people have a lot, there is, at times, a feeling of entitlement. But in Gabon, it was a totally different story,” explains Leonel. “The appreciation that the patients and their families showed us was remarkable. We performed a discectomy on one patient, and he said to us prior to the surgery, ‘Thank you for not just coming to visit my country.’ So, in my eyes, that surgery alone was worth the 18-hour trip.”
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