Welcome to DAST International a non-profit organization created to help qualified candidates receive hip resurfacing surgery with:

Dr. Vijay Bose at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India 

Dr. Koen De Smet in Gent, Belgium

Dr. Thomas Gross of South Carolina

DAST International thanks all three doctors and their staff for providing their services at no charge. Several hospitals are also providing services either at no cost or at a discounted rate. The generosity of the doctors, their staff and the hospitals is greatly appreciated and will help DAST International candidates receive hip resurfacing surgeries for free or at a discounted rate.

To apply:

1. You must have had a consultation in which Dr. Vijay Bose, Dr. Koen De Smet or Dr. Thomas Gross have found you to be a candidate for the hip resurfacing procedure

2. Not have any insurance coverage or have been turned down by your insurance after multiple appeals

3. Not have the financial means to pay for your surgery - unable to obtain a loan, do not own a home in which you can borrow against, etc.

Please submit the Candidates Application Form explaining your current situation.

Click here for the Candidates Application Form

Dr. Bose Patients

Dr. Bose will be donating his services to perform one hip resurfacing a year at no charge. The candidate will pay for the remainder of the hospital cost plus lodging, meals and travel expense.

Check with us to find out the entire out of pocket cost for a candidate, but it should be no more than $9,000 US ($12,000 normally)

 DAST International will also assist the candidate by providing the names of several hotels that have reduced rates for your stay following surgery in India.  The Apollo Hospital will make all your arrangements, a candidate just needs to book their own flights.  The candidate will be picked up at  the airport  provided transportation to and from the hotel and the hospital.

Dr. De Smet Patients

Dr. De Smet and his staff  from the ANCA-Clinic of the AMC-Gent are donating their services to perform one free hip resurfacing a year. Patients will stay free at Hugo's  Rehab Center "Villo Cento Passi“ while in Belgium. Smith & Nephew is also donating one (BHR) Birmingham Hip Resurfacing device per year.

The approximate out of pocket cost for a candidate will be about $6000 US ($19,700 normally)

Dr. Gross Patients

Dr. Gross, Lee Webb and staff of the South Carolina Joint Replacement Center are donating their services to perform one free hip resurfacing a year. The Providence Hospital Northeast is also donating the cost of one full hip resurfacing operation per year. Biomet  is providing one hip resurfacing prosthesis per year.  The Residence Inn Columbia Northeast is providing one room for 5-7 days stay at no charge to the patient. Pitts Radiology of Columbia, 803-296-5954 have waived their fees. Critical Health Systems of South Carolina (anesthesia), 1410 Blanding Street, Suite 1, Columbia, S.C. 29204, 803-254-2394 have waived their fees. The pathology department of Providence Hospital have waived their fees.

Total cost for a candidate will only be the cost of food and their own transportation to South Carolina.

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Donations are made thru Pay Pal's secure service. No Pay Pal account is required and credit cards are accepted.

Checks Accepted Via Mail at:

DAST International, Inc.
42611 Saratoga Park Street
Fremont, CA 94538

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DAST International is looking for candidates. If you would like to be considered as a candidate please complete the Candidates Application Form:

Click here for the Candidates Application Form

We will post each candidate that is chosen along with their story following their surgery.

The Board of Directors of DAST International will decide what candidates will be chosen for hip resurfacing surgery.

DAST International selects another candidate

DAST International has selected it's second candidate to receive financial assistance with hip resurfacing surgery.  Colleen Hennessy is 49 years old and lives in Denver, Colorado, she recently returned from Honduras as a Peace Corps volunteer and has no health insurance.  She will be having he surgery with Dr. De Smet in Belgium on April 15, 2008.

Dr. De Smet and his staff from the ANCA-Clinic of the AMC-Gent are donating their services to perform one hip resurfacing surgery per year. Colleen will stay free at Hugo's Rehab Center "Villo Cento Passi"  http://www.villacentopassi.com/fla/index.html  while in Belgium. Smith & Nephew is also donating one (BHR) Birmingham Hip Resurfacing device per year.  The entire cost to the patient which will cover hospital stay etc. is only 3000 euros plus cost of airfare.  I want to thank Dr. DeSmet and Hugo for the incredible generosity in offering this to Colleen as our selected patient this year. 

A little about Colleen in her own words below. "My name is Colleen Hennessy.  I am 49 years old and a recently returned Peace Corps volunteer.  I was in Honduras for the last 27 months, living in a remote village in the cloud forest on a mountaintop.  In a place that rains nine months a year, the local children were ecstatic to work with me in establishing the town's first library and computer center.   

My hip has bothered me for some time now, but I have endured the pain because I have no health insurance and kept hoping that it would get better. I cannot walk any distance without pain in my lower back and hip.  I have very limited movement and little flexibility. 

Recently, I connected with the yahoo surface hippy group and what a wonderful resource!  It was there that I found out about DAST International. How grateful I am that organizations such as this exist!  I also appreciate all the stories and other information that people have posted on the "hippy" site and look forward to sharing my own!"  

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Why "DAST"?

According to a dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi and English, "dast" is the, "ability, power, means; aid, assistance; facility; dexterity, skill; acquisition, attainment."

It means: "To come to hand, to arrive; to be reached; to be obtained; to have in one's power, to be able."

It also means, "'Having healing in his hand,' an epithet of a physician who is successful in restoring his patients to health:--dast-talab, s.m. Begging; want:--dast-e-gaib, s.m. lit. 'The hidden hand'; a charm or incantation by means of which a hidden hand supplies one's healing.

Dast is ONE miraculous word that embodies hip resurfacing surgery, the return of the patient to his/her abilities through the skill of the surgeon, one's need for help, and the "healing hand" of the surgeon who performs the procedure! For us, it means "help ."