POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Retired Lakeland orthopedic surgeon Dr. Glen Barden is still using his skilled hands to heal.

The 84-year-old volunteers one day a week at the Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine (LVIM) clinic and travels to disaster zones to provide medical care.

What You Need To Know

  • Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Glen Barden was the managing partner and CEO of Watson Clinic

  • Barden was a founder of Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine, where he still volunteers

  • The 84-year-old travels to disaster zone for Samaritan's Purse

  • Would you like to nominate an Everyday Hero? Click here

Barden was the managing partner and CEO of the Watson Clinic in Lakeland 

Now each Monday, the Barden sees patients at LVIM. On a recent day, he was seeing a Spanish-speaking patient named Enrique so a member of the LVIM staff provided interpretation services.

Enrique had soreness in his shoulders. “All right, I want you to squeeze hard. All right, good hard,” said Barden as he worked on a diagnosis. “We are trying to figure out whether he has a rotator cuff tear of his shoulders.” Barden determined Enrique’s issue didn’t require surgery but rather some special exercises and possibly some medication.

Barden loves his time as a volunteer at the clinic. “This has been a wonderful opportunity to feel like I’m a regular orthopedic surgeon,” said Barden with a big smile.

Dr. Glen Barden volunteers one day a week at the Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine clinic and travels to disaster zones to provide medical care. (Spectrum News image)

Barden has also made dozens of trips to disaster zones on behalf of the Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse. During the war in Iraq he was treating Iraqi victims in a mobile hospital within mines of the fighting.

More recently, he was providing medical care to people injured during Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas and the massive earthquake this year in Turkey. He is still performing surgeries in those disaster zones. One case in Turkey stands out. He said he and his team helped save a man’s foot.

A vehicle had crushed it as the man was helping to rescue people from the earthquake rubble.

“So we were on the team that was now doing skin grafting and wound repairs and through the efforts of the entire team, were able to salvage his foot. And that was really rewarding,” he said.

Barden said the work in the disaster zones is intense and emotional. That was the case in Turkey where tens of thousands of people were killed. “For instance, in Turkey you had individual patients that had lost the entire family and they were the only survivor. So you just had tremendous empathy for them.”

Barden says his love for people is his driving motivation for his volunteer work. “Yes, you are trying to show God’s love in regards to what you are doing to these individuals.”