Doctors live very busy lives.

Many of them are constantly on call for whatever sort of emergency that might come along, whether it be someone involved in a horrible car wreck, a person who has overdosed, a burn victim, a shooting or a heart episode.

Doctors have to be prepared at all times. Thankfully, their knowledge from medical school and their training and observation during their residencies prepare them for these emergencies.

They perform a very selfless profession, and we should all be indebted to them for what they do on a daily basis.

Bowling Green ophthalmologist Dr. Eric Downing is one of the people to whom we are referring.

When not running his business with Downing Eye Care and helping his patients here, Downing can be found in other countries doing volunteer work for people who need eye care but don’t have the doctors available or means to get it.

Downing enjoys going on mission trips so much that he tries to travel to a different country every year to help others.

The local doctor has done mission trips to Peru, Cuba and China.

Downing, who has gone on some mission trips with his father, Dr. John Downing, also an ophthalmologist, said some people in some of these countries had never seen a doctor before.

This is really sad, but it only shows how much it must mean to see doctors such as Downing come with the intent of helping them.

Downing recently went to Haiti with doctors from the University of Louisville and an interpreter to do some cataract surgeries.

Downing and his team brought all of the equipment they needed for the procedures. They were able to talk a small hospital into letting them use it for an operating room. They didn’t have to purchase much upon arrival.

The group accomplished a lot while in Haiti, performing cataract surgeries on people who likely would never have received it otherwise.

Downing and the others have one heart-touching story that stands out to them from their time there.

A 12-year-old girl had congenital cataracts. She had surgery done on one eye through a previous mission trip. On this trip, they got to do the surgery on her other eye.

Through the surgery, they were able to restore the vision she hadn’t had since her early childhood. The young girl wasn’t able to participate in school before the surgery because she couldn’t see, and she was falling behind because of it.

Before they left, they were able to see her read print, which must have seemed like a miracle to their patient.

They gave this young girl vision that without caring doctors she may not have been able to have.

She now can see and because of Downing and his team’s surgery this young girl can now expect a much happier life.

Downing doesn’t have to do these mission trips. He’s got his own patients here. He does them because he cares about people who need eye correction but otherwise couldn’t have these surgeries done because of the lack of doctors or money.

It really is a very telling story of the doctor. We applaud Downing and his team for all of the good and selfless work he does for others in impoverished countries to help them improve their eyesight. In doing that, he helps them live a much better life.