About the Founders
Letter from the Founders
My wife, Sally, and I started CURE when we saw first-hand the overwhelming devastation experienced by disabled children and their families in Malawi. These kids suffered physically and emotionally from disfiguring birth defects. Their communities saw them as cursed, and people to be shunned.
What made the situation even more excruciating to me as an orthopedic surgeon was that I saw that these conditions could be treated and cured.
Stepping out in faith that God would do something amazing, we decided to start CURE International in 1996. Our goal was simple, but not easy: to heal the disabled children living in the world’s poorest countries. We are incredibly grateful to those who have helped us get to where we are today.
Scott Harrison, M.D. Founder
History
CURE International comes straight from the hearts of the founders, Dr. Scott and Mrs. Sally Harrison. It started with an invitation.
In 1986, Dr. Harrison, a successful orthopedic surgeon and international businessman, was asked to perform spine surgery and teach higher level orthopedic surgery skills to local medical practitioners in Malawi, Africa. Over the years, he and Sally returned to Malawi on many occasions to help more and more children with disabilities. The stark realities of the physical and spiritual needs of these children haunted them, though. They saw that they were barely making a dent and they wanted to do something about it.
The opportunity to do that came after Dr. Harrison’s tenure as CEO and President of Kirschner Medical, an international manufacturer of orthopedic products. In 1994, the company was merged with Biomet and this gave the Harrisons the freedom and resources to pursue their passion for the disabled children. In 1996, CURE International was founded and, two years later, CURE’s first hospital opened.
Since then, CURE has established a presence in over 27 countries, with headquarters in the US and UK. CURE physicians and staff have performed more than 138,000 life-changing surgeries, have cared for more than 1.9 million outpatients, and trained over 6,100 medical professionals. The miracles of physical healing have opened doors to discussion of spiritual healing in ways that are affirming and culturally-sensitive. The heart of the organization follows the hearts of the Harrisons – to continue to give hope by giving the highest quality care for the medical and spiritual healing of children with disabilities and their families.
