Thirteen-year-old Carlos Vicente, with his father, Emilio, waits in the triage room just prior to his transfer to OR3 for primary palate surgery, to be performed by Dr. David Wainwright and plastic surgery fellow Dr. Erika Sato.
Carlos underwent a cleft lip repair at age two. His father learned only a month ago that palate surgery is even possible. In the minutes before his transfer to the OR, Carlos, in the arms of his dad, smiled and said, “I’m hungry! Hurry up!”
Photo by Dr. Syboney Zapata