In 1982, Dr. Ming Wang immigrated from China to the United States. He had $50 and a Chinese-English dictionary in his pocket.
“I was penniless, (but) I was happy because I was free,” Wang told the Deseret News about his journey.
He had survived a violent cultural revolution that shut down all colleges and universities across China and survived being sent to a labor camp.
In the face of adversity, Wang clung to his dream of becoming a doctor. He studied hard and got a Ph.D. in laser physics from the University of Maryland and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and MIT.
Now, Wang is a world-renowned laser eye surgeon and philanthropist. He developed a technology that restores sight. He has performed more than 55,000 eye surgeries during his career, including thousands for blind, orphaned children.
The newest Angel Studios film, “Sight,” highlights Wang’s journey from “darkness to light.”
“‘Sight’ is a reminder of the indispensable human sense of physical sight,” Wang said. “But ‘Sight’ is also sending the message that there is even another sight, which is the emotional and spiritual sight. The sight to see Christ, to see God’s purpose for each of us and emotional sight, the sight to see that it doesn’t matter if you are African American, Latino American, Asian American, white American, we are all Americans.”
‘Science is not sufficient’
While attempting to develop a cure for scarring of the eyes, Wang said he got “stuck.”
He knew an unborn fetus would never scar, but he did not want to hurt a fetus in his research. Unable to move forwaWang asked God in prayer: “Is there a common ground between science and faith?”
“In one of the prayers, years ago, I felt that God (was) sending a signal — that instead of touching any part of the unborn child, I can use the amniotic membrane, that surrounds an unborn child before births,” Wang said. “Maybe the amniotic membrane is what gives the unborn child the ability to heal without scar.”
Several placentas were donated to Wang and he began experimenting. He eventually developed the amniotic membrane contact lens. When placed in a patient’s eye, the amniotic membrane contact lens reduced scarring and restored sight.
Wang developed and donated a patent for the amniotic membrane contact lens. It is now a $50 billion industry and used by tens of thousands of doctors in almost every country in the world. Millions of patients have had their sight restored thanks to the technology, Wang said.
“Faith allowed me to see. I need science, yes. Science is the tools. Science is a must, it is necessary, but science is not sufficient,” Wang said. “To have a truly uplifting, purpose-driven life, I need Christ, to know what I am going to use scientific knowledge for, and to develop a Christ-centered, higher life purpose.”
Helping blind children
As depicted in “Sight,” Wang developed the amniotic membrane contact lens while seeking to restore the sight of Kajal — an orphaned, Indian girl who was intentionally blinded by her caretaker.
Serving Kajal and other blind, orphaned children inspired Wang and gave him purpose.
“For me, as an eye doctor, the purpose that Christ has given me specifically is to use my long study ... and laser knowledge to help those who need the most help — which are blind, orphaned children,” he said.
Wang employed his knowledge to create two non-profit foundations: Wang Foundation for Christian Outreach to China and Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration. The Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration provides free sight restoration surgery. It has helped patients, primarily orphaned children, in more than 40 U.S. states and 55 countries.
“These kids, blind orphaned children, their courage to try to come out of darkness into light has also inspired me, their eye doctor, to come from my own darkness to light — emotionally, (to) be at peace with the past and move on,” Wang said. “So, helping kids has also helped me.”
Dr. Wang prays before operating
Before performing eye surgery, Wang prays with each of his patients.
When he began praying with his patients, Wang was told he needed to be cautious about offending those who did not share his religion. He asked every patient beforehand if they were comfortable with a prayer.
“I was afraid, maybe I should not pray (with patients),” he said. “But then, I remember(ed) ... the right thing to do often comes with a price. So, I decided to pray with my patients.”
After performing surgery that began with a prayer, Wang began asking non-Christian patients if they were offended by his prayer. Over the course of roughly two years, he spoke with more than 200 non-Christian patients about their experience.
“Were you offended because you are not Christian? Yesterday I prayed before your eye surgery,” Wang would ask. “Their answers stuck with me to this day.”
“They said, ‘Not only was I not offended, I was moved.’ I said, ‘How could you be moved when I pray to my Christ that you do not believe?’ And they say, ‘The reason I was moved ... is that because in one of my most important moments in my life, which is my eye surgery, I do not want anything to go wrong and you brought us something that is most important to you, which is your Christ and I appreciate that.’
“At that moment I realized it is the love for fellow human beings that transcends the boundary of faith and religion,” he said.
Wang continued, “It is the love for fellow human beings that is our ultimate common ground. So what I’m trying to say is, faith and believing in Christ has made me a more compassionate doctor, made me a doctor more willing to find common ground with my patients and made me more willing to see the world through the eyes of my patients.”
Watch: Trailer for ‘Sight’
“Sight” is now in theaters. It stars Greg Kinnear, Terry Chen and Ben Wang.