Top New York Facial Surgeon – NYC TOP Doc – Best Plastic Surgeon New York
Your Doctor, Our Hero
Dr. Jacono was featured in Dr. OZ The Good Life magazine in an article discussing how he uses his personal time to visit the poorest reaches of the globe to perform pro bono, life changing miracle surgeries on those who are less fortunate.
“Changing a face can change a life,” says 44-year-old New York City Plastic Surgeon, Andrew Jacono, M.D.
It was a third-grade classmate with a cleft lip who inspired Andrew Jacono to become a doctor. “Before she had corrective surgery, no one would sit next to her on the bus,” he recalls. “After, everyone wanted to. I wanted to help people that way.” And over the years, he has: Largely through medical missions with the Help Us Give Smiles (HUGS) Foundation, he’s operated on more than 500 children abroad who were suffering from facial deformities like cleft palates. “In the United States, most of these kids would get surgery and lead normal happy lives,” he says. “But in countries where even basic health care isn’t guaranteed, it can mean being socially rejected. Treatment offers a fresh start.” On a March trip to Quito, Ecuador, Jacono worked on kids born with microtia, a birth defect that causes abnormally developed ears. Afterward, a father thanked him. “He explained he knew firsthand how life altering the operation can be; He’d been born with the same problem, and years ago another HUGS doctor help him,” Jacono says. “I’m a dad myself. If I can do that just by giving up a few days, why wouldn’t I?”
“Your Doctor, Our Hero” Dr. Oz The Good Life June 2015: Print.
