Charlie Gibson's Heroes: Rebuilding Lives and Caring for Others
Gibson remembers two extraordinary characters he profiled during his career.
Dec. 16, 2009 — -- During Charles Gibson's career at ABC News, he has met an array of unforgettable characters. He's interviewed countless world leaders and major newsmakers --and each week he brings viewers his "Person of the Week."
On tonight's "World News," Gibson singled out two people he met during his career as extraordinary heroes.
"Call them perhaps, particularly memorable," he said on "World News."
The first is Bob Barron. Gibson profiled him for "Primetime" in 2002. Barron spent two decades working at the art of deception as the senior disguise specialist for the CIA.
When Barron retired from the spy agency, he could have made a lot of money in Hollywood. But instead, he turned his extraordinary skills to helping people who were injured in accidents or by illness.
"In simple terms, you build them new faces?" Gibson asked.
"I build them new faces," Barron replied. "Ears ... hands, I can rebuild hands."
Barron created a lab where he built prosthetic devices layer by layer out of silicone, building in pores, painting veins and sewing on eyelashes.
Margaret Boden lost her eye to cancer, and Barron created a prosthesis specially tailored for her. Looking at her, one could not tell which was the real eye and which was Barron's creation.
"Do people give you a second glance when you have your prosthesis in?" Barron asked her.
"They don't even know," she responded.
Gibson's second hero was Kate ter Horst.
"Good Morning America" traveled to Holland in 1989 and producer Steve Cheng suggested that Gibson profile her.
Ter Horst turned her home into a makeshift hospital for British soldiers during the battle of the Arnhem Bridge in World War II. Thousands of British and Polish paratroopers were wounded or killed there.
"Every room was the same, absolutely filled with the wounded ... [down to] the last square centimeter," ter Horst told Gibson. "You couldn't walk."
"Eventually did you have to put some outside as well?" Gibson asked.
"You mean wounded? Outside? Outside were the dead, laid around the house," she replied.
Her husband was forced to bury the dead in the family garden in mass graves.
