"This is about allowing children to smile again. It's about giving children new ears. It's about restoring a child's face after a tumor was removed. It's about letting kids get back to their lives again."
-John Lester
REALMS OF CARE
We are focused on supporting two main specialties –
Complex Microvascular Operations and Ear Reconstruction.
These are two highly specialized fields that do not receive a lot of attention in the philanthropic community. These procedures can be rare, yet require the skill of an artist and surgeon to be done well.
COMPLEX MICROVASCULAR
OPERATIONS
 Skin CancerThis is the planned removal of Melanoma Skin Cancer. The left over defect will be replaced with tissue from the child's leg. |
|---|
 Jaw CancerThis child had cancer in his jaw. What you see is after the operation, where the jaw has been reconstructed using bone and tissue from his lower leg. |
 TraumaThis child suffered severe burns in a car accident. The wound will be reconstructed using tissue expanded from the healthy part of his scalp. |
 Birth DefectThis child was born with an abnormal growth on her lip. This will carefully removed and repaired with artistic precision. |
 InfectionThis child has an invasive infection that eroded the roof of her mouth. This will be repaired using tissue from her forearm. |
 Facial PalsyThis child suffers from Facial Palsy where part her face is paralyzed, because of this she is unable to smile fully. Using muscles and nerves from her leg, her smile will be restored through a complex operation called facial reanimation surgery. |
Complex Microvascular Operations encompass a field that requires highly specialized skill to reconstruct a patient's particular issue using skin, muscle, and sometimes bone from another part of the patient's body. We focus primarily on deformities of the head caused from birth defect, trauma or diseases like cancer.
​
​
EAR RECONSTRUCTION
 Kid with Microtia From GuatemalaMicrotia is a birth defect that leaves children with an underdeveloped ear(s). This often puts these children at risk socially, developmentally and even professionally later in life. |
|---|
 Closer Look at a Microtia Ear |
 Microtia Before RepairThis is the pre-operative look at a child with microtia. |
 Cartiledge frame workThis is the new ear framework sculpted from cartiledge removed from the child's ribs. |
 Post Operative EarThis is a look at a repaired ear after the reconstruction. |
 Moore Center in GuatemalaThis is the location where the John Lester Foundation provides ear reconstruction for children internationally. |
Ear Reconstruction describes a spectrum of operations that can be performed to restore or reconstruct a child's ear to its typical anatomy. One of the major deformities we focus on is Microtia, where the child is born with one or both ears underdeveloped.
​
​