Dr. Gyung Bai Choi, Chief Director of JC Bitsomang Eye Clinic and a Renowned Specialist in Presbyopia Treatment
“During my first volunteer mission to Cambodia, I met a girl of about 14 who was gradually losing her sight after being struck in the eye by a stone while playing. Rather than an age-related cataract, she had developed a traumatic cataract. I can still vividly remember the joy on her family’s faces after the surgery was completed.”
An overseas volunteer mission that he joined almost by chance in his early 40s completely transformed the ophthalmologist’s life. Convinced that this was the work he was meant to do, he has spent the past 13 years traveling abroad more than ten times annually, often carrying as much as 400 kilograms of surgical equipment.
This is the story of Dr. Gyung Bai Choi, Chief Director of JC Bitsomang Eye Clinic, who received an award at the 4th Korea Overseas Volunteer Awards in 2009 from the Korea International Cooperation Agency, or KOICA, and the Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development Cooperation, or KCOC.
Known for his warm expression and clear, thoughtful eyes, Dr. Choi traveled to 22 countries, including Cambodia, China and the Philippines, and helped restore sight to more than 2,000 people.
Each mission lasted approximately ten days and cost tens of millions of won in expenses alone. Such a level of dedication may be difficult for an ordinary person to comprehend, and the article portrays him as a man of exceptional generosity and commitment.
“My wife was particularly opposed to it at first. In fact, my father-in-law, who was a pastor, was not very pleased about it either,”
he said with a laugh. “Their concern was not so much about the financial cost as it was about the possibility that I might encounter danger.”
“I was traveling to dangerous regions nearly once a month. At one point, an insurance company even refused to issue me a whole life insurance policy, so it was only natural for my family to worry.”
https://www.mk.co.kr/news/society/view/2013/03/173384/
