Tauranga orthopaedic surgeon Vaughan Poutawera served on the largest deployment of the New Zealand Medical Assistance Team (NZMAT) in the aftermath of Cyclone Winston.
Mr Poutawera was one of 17 people deployed in four teams in March to treat patients who suffered storm-related injuries.
For two weeks, he and his team handled fractured femurs, infected wounds and complications of wounds due to diabetes.
"It's an epidemic in Fiji as in a lot of parts in the Pacific," he said. The surgeon also reconstructed tendons, plated broken bones and debrided (removed tissue from) infected wounds.