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Pro bono work at PHI Clinic

Pro bono work at PHI Clinic

As well as directing PHI Clinic, Dr Tapan & Gudiya have a charity organisation that they run. 

 

Through PHI-Lanthropy, Dr Tapan has provided free treatments to burn and scar victims like Darren Pidgeon, Tulsi Vagjiani, and Katie Piper, as well as being involved in the immediate relief efforts following the Gujarat earthquake in 2001 and continuing to sponsor a school there.

 

 

Other charitable initiatives Dr Tapan and his team contribute towards include: 

Introducing Harry. An 18-year-old born with a bilateral cleft lip

Introducing Harry. An 18-year-old born with a bilateral cleft lip

Meet Robert Coaster's lifelong journey with a Port-Wine Stain birthmark

PORT WINE STAIN TREATMENT

The Katie Piper Foundation

The Katie Piper Foundation helps adult survivors of burns, people with severe scars from a traumatic incident such as a road traffic accident, or someone with scarring from Necrotising fasciitis. The Foundation also helps family members or carers. Members can find services that work alongside existing support networks like the NHS.

The journey of rehabilitation is their focus – taking a tailor made approach to mental wellbeing and physical health and Dr Tapan has been privaliged to help for many years after treating Katie earlier in his career.

katie piper foundation

Tulsi's Story

“I sustained my burns in a plane crash when I was 10 years old. Having various skin grafts and contracture releases post-accident, some movements were difficult, such as full movement of my left arm due to a tight scar near the shoulder. I also had limited sensation on my face and with the right scars my face did not look symmetrical.

 

I was introduced to Dr Tapan Patel via The Katie Piper Foundation for a consultation on laser treatment for my scars. I was amazed when he was positive about helping me achieve functionality not only to my face my arms too. I now can breathe from my right nostril, as well as feel hot and cold sensations on the right side of my face (the most affected area). I have full range of movement on my right arm which has alleviated a lot of stiffness I used to encounter around the shoulder region.

 

I absolutely adore Dr Tapan Patel and his wife, Gudiya Dagur Patel. They ensure I am comfortable before each treatment. Everyone at the clinic is so professional. Despite the pain during the laser treatment, I know the results are always going to be outstanding.

I would highly recommend PHI Clinic if you are thinking of any aesthetics/scar treatments.”

tulsi

Y.E.S (Yezidi Emergency Support)

YES was founded by Anne Norona, a Penzance nurse, who won the 2018 Women of the Year’s ‘Shine A Light’ award for her work with the survivors of genocide on Mount Sinjar in Iraqi Kurdistan. Targeted in 2014, ISIS attacked Yezidi towns and villages, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate to the mountains. Hundreds of vulnerable people died along the way, mostly comprised of children and the elderly. Those who were left behind were split by gender, with the men being slaughtered and women and children sold into slavery or kept as prizes for the ISIS fighters. 

 

These captured Yezidis were subject to systematic torture and rape at the hands of extremists. Thousands of Yezidis remain missing, though many have escaped or been bought back, and the crisis has been ignored by surrounding governments in the 4 years since the initial attack. This is the 74th genocide in history against the Yezidis, whose numbers have fallen from millions to just over 800,000.

Dr Tapan and his team recently raised over £60,000 for the Yezidi Emergency Support, with all proceeds going directly to those on the ground, in the form of accommodation, health and wellbeing services, education, and more. 

PHI Clinic Pro Bono

The Gurajat earthquake

Having been raised by parents who helped organise free cataract surgery in developing countries, Dr Tapan Patel and his wife, Gudiya, have made it their mission to help others transform their lives.

 

In 2001, the Gurajat earthquake impacted some 777 people. Both Dr Tapan and Gudiya were visiting India at the time and were able to help set up a relief camp within just a few hours, with the help of local volunteers. They now both sponsor a school in a remote village in India, where children walk up to 6 miles a day to receive an education. Dr Tapan Patel and Gudiya’s own children have since made that journey, which has made a lasting impression on them.

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