Dancing with the Doc - Enjoy Valentine's Themed Event with Dr. Ming Wang

Dr. Ming Wang is the featured dancer at a Valentine's Day themed event in Murfreesboro, TN to benefit the Kajal Project- raising money to help a blind toddler from India.

Nashville, TN. - Dr. Ming Wang, MD, Ph.D, a Harvard & MIT graduate, an internationally known LASIK surgeon and the reigning World Ballroom Championship finalist (pro-am international open 10-dance), and his partner, Mercedes Soria (US pro-am closed 10-dance champion) will be the featured dancers at a Valentine's Day themed event in Murfreesboro. The Solid Gold Club at Wilson Bank & Trust is presenting this gala event, "Dancing with the Doc" , at the Murfreesboro Athletic Club in Murfreesboro on Friday, Feb. 16, to raise funds to help the blind.    

"We wanted to host a unique Valentine's Day event for adults ages 50 and older that would be fun as well as entertaining," said Dawn Eaton, Solid Gold coordinator. The event will feature not only Dr. Wang's ballroom dance performance, but also his music performance on the Chinese er-hu violin with classical guitarist Mr. Carlos Enrique. The event promises to be a fun evening, and for a good cause-- we hope to raise funds to help a blind 4-year-old girl from India named Kajal.
Kajal lives in a very poor area in India, and 6 months ago was purposely blinded by her own stepmother, who poured acid into Kajal's eyes during an argument with Kajal's birth mother over who should keep Kajal, a situation which is a modern day version of The Wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 3:16-28). Kajal's mother later died, leaving Kajal to the stepmother who abandoned Kajal at a train station. Fortunately, Kajal was found and saved by a mission group in India, the Society of Underprivileged People (SOUP). Kajal's family's whereabouts are unknown at this time, and she has lost nearly all of her sight (she can barely see light). Now through God and through the loving hearts of people from around the world including Nashville, Kajal may have a chance to see again!

After a desperate worldwide search lasting several months for the expertise that could restore Kajal's sight in her severely damaged eyes, and from the advice of friends and doctors from India, other countries and the US, Kajal's caretakers were finally led to contact the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration (WFSR) in Nashville, TN, USA. WFSR is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit charity that helps severely corneal blind patients such as Kajal, for whom conventional surgeries no longer work. Kajal needs a unique eye surgery developed by the WFSR doctors -- femtosecond laser-assisted artificial cornea implantation--a new, off-label procedure which was first performed in the world by WFSR doctors. They have been involved in research and development of these new sight restoration surgeries, have published a paper in the world renowned journal Nature and hold a US patent on a new biotechnology to restore sight in severely corneal injured eyes. To date, WFSR has attracted patients from over 40 states in the US and 55 countries worldwide.
To help Kajal, the foundation doctors have waived all charges for her medical and surgical care. In addition, WFSR will cover all of Kajal's hospital and operating room expenses at Saint Thomas Hospital. We are raising funds to meet the last part of Kajal's need, i.e., travel expenses from India to the US and accommodations for her and a caretaker while they are here in the States.
Kajal is a brilliant, positive and outgoing child and she needs sight….soon! At such a young age, a prolonged deprivation of visual signal will result in underdevelopment of brain visual cortex and permanent loss of sight. Hence, we are on a very tight timeline. A portion of the proceeds will go to support Kajal's journey around the world to go from darkness to light.

A unique aspect of this event is the combination of ballroom dancing and a cause of sight restoration. When asked why he combined ballroom dancing with vision, Dr. Wang answered, "You know, as human beings, we often only find something precious when we no longer have it and really need it." In order to create an emotional impact about the importance of vision, Dr. Wang chose to combine the beauty of ballroom dancing with the emotional need for helping the blind. He said, "When you see something as beautiful and breathtaking as ballroom dancing, you need only imagine how emotionally devastating it would be if your sight was gone and you were unable to see any of the beauty of the performance, the dancers and the costumes.

Ballroom dancing is enjoying a resurgence of interest in America today. According to Dr. Wang, the benefit of ballroom dancing includes not only music and physical exercise, but also, and perhaps much more important, the connectivity, the sensitivity and the awareness of another human being, i.e., the need to be considerate and not selfish. He explained, "No matter how good a dancer you are, if you do not learn to dance and move together with another person, you will not be able to produce synchronized ballroom dancing." Ballroom dancing is about partnership, caring, sensitivity and being connected to another human being, both physically and emotionally.

When asked how ballroom dancing has benefited his medical practice and patient care, and why he dedicates nearly 1/3 of his time to charity cases, waiving all fees for all blind foundation patients such as Kajal, Dr. Wang said, "Learning ballroom dancing has helped me to learn how to be sensitive, aware of another human being and connected, and has made me a better listener. As a doctor, I have become more compassionate and sensitive to my patients' needs, and want even more to do my very best to help them."

These characteristics are the reason why Dr. Wang is so passionate about both ballroom dancing and his life's dedication, sight restoration for the terminally blind. Be a part of this lovely evening and help a wonderful cause of bringing sight to the blind! Guests will dance the night away to the big band sounds of Glen Miller and Tommy Dorsey played by The Establishment, a 20-piece band of top-notch musicians. Hors d'oeuvres will be served. Dr. Wang has promised to teach a round of waltz and swing dance to everyone!

Tickets for this limited-seating event are $30 per person and can be purchased by calling 615-904-6376 no later than Friday, Feb. 9. Reservations are open to the public. For more information about Dr. Ming Wang, please contact Alanna J. Napier, at 615-480-3816, information about Dr. Wang can be found at www.wangvisioninstitute.com, Wang Vision Institute, 1801 West End Ave, Ste 1150, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA, 615-321-8881.

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