Dr. Roger V. Ohanesian, the Orange County ophthalmologist who traded a family vacation for a humanitarian mission to war-torn Armenia in 1992, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at a Nov. 14 gala at Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach.

The Armenian EyeCare Project, the nonprofit Ohanesian founded, will host the event, according to STU News Newport. The award recognizes more than five decades of patient care and his efforts to bring vision-saving treatment to underserved communities in Armenia.

Ohanesian is best known locally as the founder of Harvard Eye Associates, which he established in the mid-1970s with offices in Laguna Beach and San Clemente. According to the organization's biography of Ohanesian, the story of how he turned to Armenia begins with a fax.

On Sept. 10, 1992, Ohanesian was two days from leaving for a family trip to England. Walking out of his San Clemente office, he picked up a fax from Armenia's Deputy Minister of Health requesting American doctors to help a nation reeling from war and a catastrophic earthquake. He changed his flight, gathered $10,000 in donated medicine and supplies, and boarded a plane carrying six corneas with a shelf life of just days.

He arrived at the Republican Eye Hospital in Yerevan, where he found conditions he later described as archaic. "We would be in the middle of an operation and the electricity would go out without warning," Ohanesian said, according to the organization's account. "Somebody would have to run down seven flights of stairs to start the generator."

Over two weeks, he treated about 300 patients and performed 40 surgeries. Nearly all were war casualties. About half were children.

That first trip grew into the Armenian EyeCare Project, formally founded in 1994. Ohanesian has returned to Armenia more than 50 times since, bringing specialist doctors and millions of dollars in medical equipment, according to the organization. The nonprofit says its programs have provided eye care to hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise would have had limited or no access to treatment.

Born in 1940 in Boston to first-generation Armenian parents, Ohanesian was drawn to eye surgery by his grandmother. After unsuccessful cataract surgery left her blind, she told him her wish was that he would train to prevent others from losing their sight. He completed his residency at Harvard Medical School and later moved to Southern California.

Dr. John Hovanesian, vice president of the Armenian EyeCare Project and president of Harvard Eye Associates, said in a statement carried by STU News that Ohanesian "has always put people first."

Proceeds will support the Armenian EyeCare Project’s programs in Armenia. The gala takes place Saturday, Nov. 14, at Balboa Bay Resort, 1221 West Coast Highway, with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. and dinner and a program at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $550 per person or $250 for guests ages 40 and under. Tables cost $4,000 for eight guests or $5,000 for 10. Visit eyecareproject.com/gala or call 949-933-4069.