(WHTM) — Tuesday night’s Hometown Hero is honored for donating her skills to help so many.
Dr. Jessyka Lighthall is a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Penn State Health. For the past 16 years, she has taken part in humanitarian trips to provide cleft lip and palate surgeries to underserved children and adults in foreign countries.
This past summer, Dr. Lighthall volunteered her services to a community in Peru, and in return, the community of Lambayeque awarded her with its highest honor, the Gold City Medal, during a July ceremony.
Dr. Lighthall was a surgical lead with the FACES Foundation, an organization based in Portland, Oregon. She has worked with the foundation since 2012 and is also a member of its Board of Directors and its fundraising committee.
FACES “provides comprehensive, high-quality care for children and adults with cleft lip and palate deformities,” along with long-term multidisciplinary support like “speech therapy, dental and orthodontic care, scar management, psychological services and assistance in addressing social determinants of health.”