A doctor and nurse from a Canton practice took their talents to Peru this month to bring much needed health care to people without access to it.

Dr. Shatul Parikh, a head and neck and reconstructive surgeon, and nurse Jackie Schumaker, both of Northwest ENT in Canton, traveled with the Peruvian American Medical Society to Cagamarca, Peru.

It was the second trip to Peru for Parikh, an experience he calls "eye-opening."

He said the people in the town are very poor, and many suffer from serious health problems.

"They have spirit and ingenuity and are hard working," said Parikh, who lives in Atlanta. "They just have no access to health care."

Parikh said there was a two-year backlog of cases when the team arrived. He was part of a 135-member team that included nurses, physicians, surgeons and non-medical volunteers. During the visit, more than 30 cleft lip and palate surgeries and 10 thyroid surgeries were performed at no cost to the patients.

He said the thyroid growth were larger than any he has seen in the United States. He said incidents of cleft lips are high in that area due to nutrition issues among pregnant women.

"We did more in one week than are done in Atlanta in one year," he said of the surgeries.

Ms. Schumaker, who lives in southwest Cherokee, said the Peruvian people were desperate for medical care. She said the first day of the clinic, "as soon as you opened the doors, people were fighting to get in."

"People are grabbing you asking you to please help them, or at least point them in the right direction," she said.

She said one woman cried upon seeing her child after a cleft lip repair.

"She couldn't believe it was her child," she said.

Parikh said he would like to see more local doctors and nurses join them on future trips.

"There are tremendous personal rewards, not to mention all the good you are doing for humanity," he said.

Parikh said he's planning a similar trip to his home country of India. A departure date has not been scheduled.

"It is still in its infancy," he said about the mission.

For information, call Parikh at (770) 427-0368.