Beverly Hills

Plastic Surgeon Fixes Facial Deformities and Changes Children's Lives

A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon is boosting confidence - but not for the clientele you'd expect.
He is changing the lives of his pint-sized patients.

For parents whose children are born with facial deformities, the thought of paying for surgery can be overwhelming.

To help them, Beverly Hills plastic surgeon John Reinisch works with the Small Wonders Foundation — a non-profit that offers free plastic surgery to families who would otherwise be unable to afford it.

The foundation has helped pay for more than two dozen operations in the past 10 years.

"It's very hard to see parents and children that can't get care," Reinisch said. "I don't find it work - I enjoy doing it."

Reinisch works with the foundation, which was started by parents who had insurance that covered his services, like Julie Reisz.

Her daughter Rocky Reisz had a Nevus — a large dark colored mole that occurs in about one in every 20,000 births. She had it removed from the back of her head, neck and back when she was a baby. She has had five surgeries.

"Dr. Reinisch was such an incredible doctor that I immediately wanted to give back," Reisz said.

Rocky, now a healthy 13-year-old, volunteers with other teens on a junior council raising money for Small Wonders.

"It was kind of a way of giving back from my surgeries," Rocky said.

Like Rocky, Liam Chao, of Calabasas, was also born with a Nevus.

"I think we grieved the 'normal' baby we thought we were going to get," Liam's mother, Jennifer Chao, said.

Doctors told Liam's parents that he could develop cancer if the Nevus was not removed.

"I was so scared for him because we didn't know what was going on or what the future held," Jennifer Chao said.

Liam's parents could not find a doctor in their HMO insurance plan that they trusted with such a delicate surgery, but knew they could not afford it on their own.

The Small Wonders team raised money for Liam to have the first of five surgeries. He eventually needed a skin graft and tissue expander.

Now at 5 years old, Liam is doing great, and his family is forever grateful to Reinisch and the Small Wonders team.

"They changed our life so much," Chao said. "What they've done for us is something we're never going to forget."

The experience has inspired Liam to want to give back and he says he wants to be a doctor when he grows up.

"Because people did surgery on me and I really liked it, so now I want to," Liam said.

To learn more about the Small Wonders Foundation, visit the website here.

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