Just One Inspiring Story

While everyone, from doctors to volunteers to patients, walks away with a memorable experience at the FreeD.O.M Clinic, some people stand out more than others. Dr. Jaime Amir will never forget one patient, who by grim necessity had carved a unique path for himself. Here’s his story in his own words.

clinic gifts them. For Simon Amir, it was a young mother with a damaged tooth.

“A toothache can be the worst pain a person has ever experienced, and she’d had it for three months,” he recalls. “She had been to the emergency room twice, where they only had prescribed her antibiotics to temporarily ease the pain, at best. She was endlessly thankful that we were able to get her out of pain for good.”

After all, putting people out of pain and restoring normalcy to their lives is what puts the care in health care.

“It fulfills part of my life’s mission to help other people,” Simon Amir says. “It is amazing to be part of something that has such a tremendous impact on so many people’s lives in such a short time.”

I remember a really interesting guy in his 50s who both my assistant and I will never forget. I’ve talked about him many times since, as he really opened my eyes to the range of experiences people in our community go through.

After I completed a tooth extraction on him, we talked about avoiding processed foods and sugars to prevent future problems. When I asked about his diet, he said, ‘I eat a lot of bush food.’

‘Bush food?’ I asked. ‘What does that mean?’

He told us that by bush food he meant the local, edible plants you find growing in the forest. He named o a bunch of edible plants that grew in the area, so clearly he wasn’t making things up.

I asked him how he came to learn about bush food, and he told us that when he was a young teenager, growing up in another state, his father used to beat him, so he would run away from home and fend for himself. So he learned the hard way, that what was edible could be a matter of survival.

When it was cold in the winter he would go back home, then run away as soon as spring arrived, eventually followed by his younger brothers. They would hunt, pick berries, build fires—do everything they needed to do to survive.

His mom would occasionally find them and bring snacks, because she felt sorry for them. But one day, he and his brothers invited his mom to have dinner with them. They served up a grand supper, with wild goose and roasted vegetables. When she saw how well they were eating, she stopped bringing them snacks!

Later, he lived in Ecuador for 10 years, living the same way, and eventually made it to Ocala. Although he now has a wife, two kids and a house, he still wanted to learn what was edible in the area and has taught his children to do the same.

His story was fascinating. And there have been so many other interesting people that I’ve met at FreeD.O.M , all who were grateful for the help they were receiving. I am grateful to help them.”

Volunteers Needed: Ann Burnett urges all dental professionals (Florida dentists, non Floridalicensed dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants) and eye care specialists (optometrists, opticians and optometrist technicians) to volunteer by logging on at freedomclinicusa.org or calling (352) 209-1900 to have their licenses verified and be issued proper credentialing.

“We are completely dependent on the donated expertise of our volunteers, and the more health care professionals who volunteer, the more patients we can see,” Burnett says. “Every dollar of service we can provide with our volunteers is one less health care dollar that gets passed on to taxpayers.”

Donations Appreciated: Non-medical professionals can still help; individuals can make a monetary donation via PayPal at freedomclinicusa.org.