British Soldier Spends 10 Years Raising Money for a Little Boy’s Surgery
In 2003, while on a peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, Wayne Ingram, a British soldier made a friend, 4-year-old Stefan Savic. The little boy had been born with a rare facial disfigurement that split his nose in half and forced his eyes several inches apart.
According to Facing the World, a nonprofit dedicated to helping children with severe facial disfigurement, Stefan's family did all they could but could not afford expensive surgeries.
Plus they just didn’t have the surgeons Stefan needed in Bosnia. Ingram knew he had to help.
"When I first saw him I was really heartbroken," Ingram told ABC News. "You don’t want to see any child disfigured. At the time he was 4 years of age and had never been in school. He hadn’t been introduced to other children. But aside from the facial deformities he was just a normal, playful little boy. He was confident and cheeky, climbing all over me as we played football in the yard."
Ingram started raising money to bring Stefan to the U.K. for advanced treatment. The campaign took in about $143,000 and a craniofacial surgeon agreed to donate his time for free.
Over three operations, doctors removed Stefan's teeth, corrected his nose, and iremoved a bone growth from between his eyes, moved the eyes closer together and reformed the nose itself. By 2007, doctors had done all they could until Stefan turned 13.
This month, the 14 year old Stefan returned to the U.K. for one of his last surgeries. Ingram raised another $25,000 – to get him here. Thanks to this caring soldier, Stefan is well on his way to looking like every other 14 year old boy.
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