Beyond the scar: Belo’s most personal project leads to surgical breakthrough in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — When Belo Medical Group launched the Scar Project in 2025, Dr. Vicki Belo and Dr. Hayden Kho expected difficult cases. What they did not expect was the emotional weight of nearly 800 stories arriving from across the country.
The submissions came from burn survivors, people born with facial deformities, individuals living with the aftermath of traumatic accidents, and patients whose conditions had shaped the course of their lives for years. Beneath every photograph was a deeply personal story of rejection, insecurity, missed opportunities and resilience.
“It really affected us,” shared Dr. Kho. “You realize very quickly that scars are never just physical. They change how people move through life. Some people stop pursuing opportunities. Some avoid being seen. Some quietly withdraw.”
From those submissions, Belo selected seven patients whose journeys would become the foundation of the project’s next chapter. Internally, they became known as “The First Seven,” representing not simply the most severe cases, but individuals whose lives the team believed could be changed most meaningfully through long-term reconstructive care.
Today, many of their major surgeries have already been completed, marking an important milestone in what has become one of Belo’s most ambitious and deeply personal initiatives to date.
Among the seven patients, two stories stand out. One represents a significant medical breakthrough for reconstructive surgery in the Philippines. The other has become the emotional heart of the project itself.
One of the Scar Project’s most groundbreaking cases involves 20-year-old Kirsten Sofia Barin, who was born with multiple facial clefts, a rare congenital condition where portions of the cheekbones, lips and surrounding facial structures do not fully form at birth. Since infancy, Kirsten had already undergone multiple surgeries, but significant facial asymmetry remained.
For the Belo surgical team, led in part by Dr. Dax Pascasio, the case required more than conventional reconstruction. Because of the irregular contour and asymmetry of Kirsten’s facial structure, no standard implant available on the market could adequately address her condition. Instead, the team designed a custom-made, patient-specific implant using high-density polyethylene technology based on a precise 3D reconstruction of her anatomy.
The procedure is believed to be the first documented facial reconstruction of its kind in the Philippines using a custom-fabricated HDPE implant for a craniofacial cleft case.
“Kirsten’s case was particularly challenging because she had already undergone several surgeries as a child,” explained Dr. Pascasio. “We had to work with scarred tissue and very limited soft tissue available for reconstruction. That makes reshaping the face significantly more difficult.”
For the surgical team, however, the significance of the case extends beyond one patient.
“It gives us a glimpse of what is now possible for future reconstructive cases in the country,” Dr. Pascasio added.
“With the right resources and a multidisciplinary approach, we can now achieve a much higher level of precision even in very complicated craniofacial cases.”
For Dr. Belo, cases like Kirsten’s represent a different side of medicine, one that goes far beyond appearance.
“When you help restore someone’s ability to function, to feel comfortable in their own face, and to move through life with more confidence, the impact reaches far beyond the physical,” she said.
If Kirsten’s story represents the medical breakthrough of the Scar Project, eight-year-old Sophia Abalon has become its emotional center.
Sophia survived a devastating house fire that claimed the lives of members of her family.
Though she survived, she was left with extensive burn scars and contractures that now affect her mobility. At such a young age, she has already undergone multiple surgeries and continues to face a long rehabilitation process ahead.
And yet, according to everyone involved in her care, Sophia remains remarkably joyful.
“When you meet her, you don’t immediately think about the scars,” said Dr. Kho. “You notice her spirit first.”
Her dream, he shared, is to one day dance.
Dr. Kho admitted, “I remember tearing up when she said it.”
Sophia’s treatment involves staged contracture release surgeries, rehabilitation, advanced scar remodeling and long-term care to gradually restore movement and function. For the Belo team, her story captures the deeper purpose behind the project.
“This reminded us why we entered medicine in the first place,” Dr. Belo reflected. “To help people live more freely and comfortably in their own lives.”
Although Belo Medical Group is publicly known for beauty and aesthetics, The Scar Project reveals another side of the practice, one focused less on enhancement and more on restoration. Across all seven patients, treatment plans combine surgery, laser technologies, regenerative medicine, rehabilitation and psychological support. Some of these journeys will take years to complete.
Dr. Kho acknowledged that the work ahead remains long-term for many of the patients. “A lot of these cases require years of follow-through,” he said. “But when we accepted them into the project, we already understood that responsibility.”
For now, the “First Seven” remain in the middle of their journeys. But as their stories begin to emerge publicly, The Scar Project is already reshaping conversations around scars, healing and what reconstructive medicine in the Philippines may now be capable of achieving.
And for one little girl waiting for the day she can finally dance, that future suddenly feels much closer.
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