Bring Back Hope

On a 2008 trip to Ethiopia Gary Segal met a boy, Tesfaye, who had an extreme deformity in his spine, with no chance for surgery in Africa. After almost a year of diligently working to convince Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) to take on Tesfaye as their first such foreign case, Gary succeeded in sponsoring Tesfaye’s life-saving spine surgery at VGH in 2009. The experience inspired Gary to establish the “Bring Back Hope” (BBH) Initiative to help children in similar circumstances in Africa and support the work of Dr. Rick Hodes, an inspiring humanitarian who has dedicated his entire medical life to helping the most sick and destitute. BBH, along with a newly formed partnership with the UBC Faculty of Medicine Branch for International Surgical Care (BISC), were launched at the inaugural 2012 “An Evening to Bring Back Hope” gala that raised over $1 million; five years later Gary held another gala – this time raising $2 million in the continued support of Dr. Rick Hodes and the capacity building partnership with the BISC. The deployed funds have had a tremendous impact on improving and saving the lives of young Ethiopians suffering from debilitating spine and heart disease, and on the delivery of trauma care. The needs are ongoing, and progress continues towards the ultimate goal of establishing an advanced Spine Centre in Ethiopia that has the capacity and expertise to handle more complex cases within the country.