DR. SHARAD KUMAR DICKSHEET
2001 HUMANITARIAN AWARD
The India Project
India
The life of Dr. Sharad Kumar Dicksheet, was frought with many difficulties: a partially paralyzing car accident that left him in a wheelchair, terminal cancer in the larynx, and two severe heart attacks leaving him with only 17 percent residual heart capacity. Despite the challenges in his own life, Dicksheet continued his annual missions to provide free corrective surgery for children and infants who suffer from facial deformities.
In 1968, Dicksheet founded The India Project. Since that time, he traveled to India each year to perform surgeries on children. To date, The India Project has performed more than 98,000 surgeries. These surgeries have had a direct effect on over 10 million people in India who are related to and friends of the children Dicksheet serves. During the 2003-04 five-month season, Dicksheet and his team performed surgeries on 18,155 children with facial deformities.
The prize money awarded to Dicksheet gave The India Project the ability to purchase additional medical supplies and expand its outreach by opening five additional campsites and reaching 1,700 more children with facial deformities. Sadly, Dr. Dicksheet passed away in 2011 after a life full of dedicated service to children. This documentary highlights more on his incredible life.