Three years in a row, Jose Villegas came to our clinic in the Philippines. And three years in a row, he gave up his place on the surgery schedule so another, younger child could have surgery.

Jose Villegas had an immense tumor that had grown on his lower jaw down to his upper chest. This two-pound tumor devastated his life. After three years of seeing Jose walk away from the mission site, Operation Smile made arrangements to bring him to the United States to remove the tumor and replace his lower jaw with bone from his skull. Not only was the surgery a success, today Jose works for Operation Smile and lives in Norfolk, VA. He recently married a beautiful young woman and is starting a family.

Here in his own words is the remarkable story of Jose Villegas: “Nine years ago, in my wildest dream, I never imagined that I would be coming here to the United States. I never imagined what would happen to me in the next few years of my life. Just three months ago, I was in the Philippines as part of Operation Smile Team Medical Mission, and that was the most rewarding experience that ever happened to me. Back in 1987, I was one of those individuals lining up waiting to be seen by the Operation Smile doctors. I can remember so vividly nine years ago, I had two pounds of tumor hanging from my chin. I was not born like this. I was a happy and outgoing kind of person, but when the tumor started to grow and the local doctors could do nothing about it, I became a recluse and a very lonely person. I thought nobody liked me. When I am in a crowd their eyes are always on me, looking at me and sometimes laughing at me. So, I stopped going out during the day and go out only at night. It came to a point in my life, that I could no longer look to people eye to eye. I had a very low self-esteem and I don’t even remember if I had self esteem left in me. I felt so hopeless and rejected. One night I remember I said ‘God if you want to take me tonight, it’s alright, I’m tired, I am so tired.’

In February of 1987, I met Dr. Magee and the Operation Smile volunteers in Manila, Philippines. From there they rescued me from the deepest pit of my life. When I had no hope, they gave me hope. When I had no future, they gave me a future. They helped me to restore my self-esteem and dignity as a person. They gave me a chance to become a normal and productive person.They not only changed my looks—they changed my heart. They taught me how to love and give myself to others. I learned that the greatest thing in life is how to extend or how to help other people. Now I am part of the Operation Smile staff and I am very proud of that.”