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On the day Andy Murray reclaimed British glory and pride by beating Novak Djokovic and ending the nation's 77-year wait for a British male Wimbledon champion, a vivacious young girl started the proceedings by flipping the coin before the match took place. Her name was Pinki Sonkar and she was all smiles and there was little evidence of the cleft lip that had made her life living hell. She was there representing the NGO Smile Train which had provided her with free surgery to fix her facial abnormality. She was also the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, Smile Pinkiwhich captured her life's trials and travails.
'Now, I go to school every day and have lots of friends. Smile Train has made me happy. I am very excited to be going to Wimbledon and doing the coin toss in front of so many people. I have been practising lots!' She had said before the grand event. Tomorrow is World Plastic Surgery day and Pinki's story reverberates with all those who suffer from this condition. Thankfully, plastic surgery has advanced to a stage that these even the most complex clefts can now be fixed.
Read: Top B-town plastic surgeries gone wrong!
'We can fix gum and nose deformities in a single operation,' plastic surgeon Nitin Mokal told TOI. Dr Mokal is among those chosen by international NGO Smile Train to perform cleft lip reconstruction. Smile Train gives financial assistance amounting to amounting to Rs 13,500 per surgery and has helped perform 3.5 lakh surgeries in India in the last decade.
In fact, for those that can afford there's the option of using biodegradable collagen (lab-generated tissue-like material) which speeds up the healing process. While earlier children, with a cleft in the gums didn't have the option the artificial teeth, nowadays they can look perfect.
Currently, 7 in 1000 children are born with a cleft lip and palate deformity which means that there are millions who need help but can't access or afford it. While it's still unclear what causes children to develop deformities, some believe it's caused due to poor Vitamin B and folic acid levels in the mother. These deformities, experts believe could be wiped out if mothers take these vitamins before conception but that seems unlikely where nutrition for women isn't really a priority.