Product Details

• Actors: patients in Vietnam Interplast medical volunteers
• Directors: Donna Dewey
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• VHS Release Date: June 1, 1998
• Run Time: 33 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0970399812
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,740 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A Story of Healing, featuring the work of plastic surgeons and nurses working on disfigured children and young adults in Vietnam, won the 1997 Academy Award® for best short-subject documentary. The doctors, anesthesiologists, and nurses of Interplast pay their own way and/or give up vacation time to travel to underdeveloped countries to perform reconstructive surgeries and train medical staff. Their reactions to the rustic hospital, the challenges of working with staff who speak a different language, and the situations of their patients are certainly interesting, but the power of this film lives in a boy named Nguyen Van Ket. A 16-year-old ostracized because of his cleft lip, he weeps gratefully throughout his surgery and recovery. Unlike the many younger children whose lips and palates these volunteers sew back together, this boy understands the impact of their stitches. To underline that point, this version features a five-minute coda after the credits of the original 28-minute short. In it a producer goes back to the Mekong delta 16 months later and finds Ket and a young woman who had a bulbous growth removed from her chin. The pair movingly confirm what viewers already know: the work of these volunteers changes lives. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Product Description

**You might also enjoy a new book about Interplast, "The Gift," by photographer Phil Borges.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So many touching stories, February 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Story of Healing [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I was so touched by the doctors and nurses' dedication, and by the children who needed their help. One volunteer tells about a young girl who wanted only to make sure her brother got the help he needed, even though she needed the same kind of help herself; it broke my heart -- I was so happy to hear they treated the brother AND the girl too! This is a very touching and uplifting film; I'm grateful for what we have and for what we're able to share with other families.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspirational Film, August 29, 2003

By 

Sandra G. Nadelson "Sandie BSU" (Boise, ID United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Story of Healing [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I highly recommend buying this film. I have watched this video four times and each time I am touched by the care that these professionals gave to the children of Vietnam. It is a very inspirational film. A nursing student told me recently that she decided to go to become a nurse after seeing this movie.
Warning: Don't start the film without some tissues handy! You will need them.