Garreth Wood is the co-founder and Chair of Kids Operating Room (KidsOR), a global charity dedicated to improving access to safe surgical care for children in low-resource settings. Through his leadership, the organisation is helping transform paediatric healthcare by equipping hospitals and training medical teams in some of the world’s most underserved regions.

Garreth’s commitment to children’s health is deeply personal. In 2012, his newborn child required emergency surgery, an experience that revealed how critical access to care can be. The following year he and his wife suffered the devastating loss of newborn triplets. Determined to help other families avoid similar suffering, Garreth sold his successful businesses and co-founded Kids Operating Room.

Since then, KidsOR has worked with hospitals and health systems across Africa, Latin America and beyond to design and install dedicated paediatric operating rooms. These facilities are equipped specifically for children and supported by training programmes for local surgical teams, ensuring that expertise and care remain within the communities they serve.

By 2024 the organisation had installed more than 100 paediatric operating rooms across 40 countries, enabling hundreds of thousands of life-saving and life-changing surgeries. The child-friendly design of the operating spaces also helps reduce fear and trauma for young patients and their families.

Garreth’s work demonstrates how personal purpose, entrepreneurial leadership and compassion can drive global change. Through Kids Operating Room, he has helped bring hope, healing and opportunity to children who might otherwise have been denied life saving treatment.