Jamestown, CA. – December 3, 2018 – Kristi Loveridge is a nurse with a knack for connecting with kids. “When I go on a medical mission, I bring items like nail polish for our young female patients. I paint their nails. It’s a small gesture to let them know I care,” said Loveridge, a Jamestown resident.
As International Volunteer Day approaches, December 5, the pediatric nurse is preparing for a trip to Mexico to take part in her 22nd medical mission with Operation Smile, an international medical charity that has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults in developing countries who are born with cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial differences.
“I love helping people who otherwise wouldn’t get the help they need. It fills my soul to offer my time and skills so that these patients – mostly children – receive life-saving surgeries they so desperately need,” Loveridge added.
As a medical volunteer with Operation Smile, Loveridge cares for patients before and after surgery, “I ensure they’re healthy enough for surgery, I check vital signs, I teach parents how to care for their kids after surgery,” said Loveridge.
The 35-year-old shares many memorable moments from numerous medical missions in India, Kenya, and Cambodia saying, “I’ll never forget a teenage boy who came to our mission site wearing a mask. He’d been hiding his face to cover a bilateral cleft lip (two tears in the lip.) After surgery, I saw him look in a mirror and smile. It was beautiful. It’s the reason why I plan on being an Operation Smile volunteer for many years,” said Loveridge.
About Operation Smile: Operation Smile has provided hundreds of thousands of safe surgeries for those born with cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial deformities. With more than three decades of expertise, Operation Smile creates solutions that deliver free surgery to people where it’s needed most. As one of the largest medical volunteer-based nonprofits, Operation Smile has mobilized thousands of medical volunteers from a wide range of medical specialties from more than 80 countries. Operation Smile engages public-private partnerships to advance health care delivery, train local medical professionals to provide surgical care for patients in their communities, donate crucial medical equipment and supplies, and increase access to surgical care so that everyone living with cleft is treated. Visit www.operationsmile.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
