I spent several years writing a book called: Before. And After. This book was about my 30-year career of founding, helping and leading some of the largest surgical charities in the world including Smile Train, Operation Smile, WonderWork, 20/20/20, 1stStep and BurnRescue. It included my most memorable experiences from a million miles of travel that took me to refugee camps in Somalia, leper colonies in Uganda, the war-torn streets of Afghanistan and hundreds of slums and villages in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America.
And amazing stories about people I met along the way including modern-day good Samaritans who humbled and inspired me. Mothers who walked through jungles with sick children on their backs. Peasants who adopted babies they found on trash heaps. Selfless doctors and nurses who devoted their lives to helping the poor. And courageous children suffering with horrible problems who never gave up. I hoped to inspire people to support my charities by telling them about all the medical miracles I witnessed. In the most Godforsaken places, I’ve seen crippled children stand up and walk. Severely burned children be rebuilt and reborn. And blind children open their eyes and see.
Ultimately, I wrote the book to share experiences and people that restored my faith in humanity. And to thank those who deserve much more credit than I do. My tireless, talented, dedicated colleagues. Millions of generous donors who gave us billions. And thousands of doctors and nurses in developing countries who turn despair into hope, and tears into smiles, every single day.
I was very proud of this book and grateful when a very successful publisher called BenBella bought the rights to it. But after a year of working with the publisher, right before it was going to be published, Wang’s lawyers threatened to sue the publisher. BenBella didn’t know what to do. But when he learned Wang’s lawyers had been paid $10+ million for various lawsuits against me, my colleagues and my charity, they pulled the plug. I couldn’t blame them. I apologized and gave BenBella him back their $10,000 advance. And I gave my co-writer $20,000.
This was the second time Wang’s lawyers did this to me. Another great example that shows if you have enough money, you can use our legal system to harm and destroy anyone you like.