Article content continued

It’s that ability to change people’s lives that drew the attention of Dr. Joan Ross, a general surgeon from Sarnia, Ontario. According to Ross, she had actually first learned about Mercy Ships about 10 to 15 years ago, when she stumbled upon a documentary while on vacation with her family.

“I just stared and stared at [the screen],” she recalls. “Tears were pouring down my cheeks. I was completely captivated by it. It tugged at my heart. I said to myself, one day, I’m going to do that.”

Ross finally made it to the ship two years ago, where she spent two weeks performing surgery. She found it to be equally challenging and rewarding – for instance, procedures that might normally take 30 minutes back home would often take between 3-4 hours on board the ship.

“It’s tough work – you’re there and you’re working hard,” says Ross. “But it’s fascinating. At one point, I was in the operating room, and eight countries were represented in that room. When you think about it, all those countries are there, at that moment in time, for one person.”