Congolese gynecologist, Denis Mukwege, who is known as “Doctor Miracle” for his work and ability to repair horrific damages inflicted on women who have been raped by doing reconstructive surgery, as been awarded the Noble Peace Prize.
Setting up the Panzi hospital in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the city of Bukavu nearly 20 years ago, Dr. Mukwege put his focused on treating women who had been raped and mutilated by armed militias.
Along with his colleagues, Dr. Mukwege has worked on tens of thousands of victims, as the Panzi hospital cares for more than 3,500 women a year.
Congo is considered the rape capital of the world from many cases of militia men raping women throughout the country. Dr. Mukwege even recounted one of the horrific injury that a patient had suffered in a BBC interview, stating the women wasn’t just raped, but bullets had been fired into her genitals and thighs.
In 1998, he started his hospital made from tents, which was destroyed the same year. That didn’t stop Dr. Mukwege as he started all over again in 1999. Now the Panzi hospital has grown to a major health facility in DR Congo and holds 370 doctors, nurses and support staff.