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For most patients, a visit to Dr. Lori Hansen's tastefully appointed medical suite in Oklahoma City means wrinkles erased, a nose straightened, or droopy eyelids discreetly lifted. But for others, it means removing the physical reminders of domestic violence—cigarette-burned cheeks, broken jaw bones—and the chance to finally put the past to rest.

Battered women are the beneficiaries of this compassionate facial plastic surgeon's skills—and of her brainchild, the National Domestic Violence Program. Started three years ago under the auspices of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), this project links via a toll-free number abuse victims who normally can't afford reconstructive surgery to a nationwide network of physicians who donate their time and expertise.

Today some 550 plastic surgeons have performed more than 1,800 surgeries. But that's not many, says Hansen, 43, "when you consider how many women are in shelters, and that up to 70 percent of all their injuries are to the head and neck."

The National Domestic Violence Program was born out of Hansen's love for the Lord and desire to serve him.

"I started thinking about all the people who suffer from low self-worth because of scars or broken bones," Hansen explains. Sharing the vision with AAFPRS president Dr. George Brennan in 1994, the national program was born. Locally, Hansen has done, to date, more than 20 surgeries, one of which was movingly depicted on ABC's "20/20."

"Anytime you have an opportunity to come into contact with people, real ministry takes place. I can do all sorts of things to make people more attractive by the world's standards, but it doesn't change anything unless they allow the Lord to make changes from the inside out. That's what I pray they'll ultimately realize."

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