An Iraqi woman, who has been working in support of the U.S. military in Iraq, was suffering from a brain tumor the size of a grapefruit. It had taken the 31-year-old's vision in one eye and was quickly blinding the other. For years, she could only pop pain killers to soothe the massive headaches, she said. X-rays of her skull revealed the dangerous location of the tumor, which if disturbed could result in stroke or death.

Surgery was not an option in Iraq, the patient said through a translator. Even the best doctors in her home country didn't have the capability to remove the large mass that had twisted itself around essential blood vessels and into her sinuses.

After collapsing at work, word of her situation got back to neurosurgeon Dr. Allen K. Sills Jr., medical director of Methodist University Hospital's Neuroscience Institute and affiliated with the nationally-known Semmes-Murphy Neurologic and Spine Institute.

Dr. Sills and others at Methodist University Hospital operated on her free. Sills took the issue straight to the hospital's CEO, who didn't hesitate to approve the surgery, which can cost more than a half-million dollars.

"We have the operating rooms, we have the staff," said Hospital CEO Kevin M. Spiegel. "It was a time to step up to do what's right."

Dr. Sills is highly regarded for performing craniotomies on dangerously positioned tumors. This one was among the top five largest he had ever seen, and the special situation was used as a teaching case for Methodist's University of Tennessee Health Science Center residents.

The tumor was successfully removed after numerous physicians and nurses donated their time to help. 

"When we get presented with a surgery like this and we can help, we want to do it," said Christopher Jenkins, administrator of Methodist's Neuroscience Institute, who coordinated her trip to the United States.

Methodist will continue to house and treat the woman for several weeks as she undergoes chemotherapy for a remaining bit of tumor.

Each year Methodist takes on a handful of "goodwill patients" who receive treatment pro bono. If you would like to support Methodist Healthcare, find out more about Ways to Give.

This story was featured in The Commercial Appeal.