Growing up in a medical household – his mother was a nurse – he says his future career was almost predestined. "She inspired me," he smiles. "Since I was a child, I wanted to help people and make them happy. So I decided I had to be a doctor, and then a surgeon."

As a newly qualified doctor, Dr Diego was driven, curious, and unafraid of new challenges. So when his hospital launched a new transplant program, he didn't hesitate.

"I didn't know much about thoracic [chest] surgery at the time," he admits, "but I jumped in. And it turned out to be a good idea."

In his newly chosen field, Dr Diego quickly flourished, finding both purpose and opportunity. First, he mastered the complicated technique of uniportal VATS (video-assisted thoracic surgery).

Uniportal VATS – also known as uniVATS or u-VATS – is a minimally invasive lung surgery performed through a single small incision: hence the 'uniportal', as opposed to multiportal surgery with more than one incision.

Then in 2010, he developed his own method, enabling entire lung sections to be removed with unprecedented precision.

That development shattered surgical orthodoxy. Gone were the all too frequent cracked ribs and long recoveries. In their place: minimal pain, faster healing, and barely visible scars.

His technique has now spread to over 100 countries – but one in particular has become his second home.

In 2012, Dr Diego traveled to China to demonstrate his technique. What he found there would change not only his own life, but the lives of thousands of anxious patients.

"I had an intuition from the beginning that it would be amazing," he recalls. "I saw their work ethic, their dedication, their kindness. I said this is the place where I will expand the technique."

He began working at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, which at the time was performing around 25 lung surgeries a day. Today, that number has grown exponentially to over 150 – with uniportal VATS as the leading method.

Over the years, his collaboration has helped to transform the hospital into the world's leading center for thoracic surgery.

"Before I came, nobody in the Western world knew about Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital," he says. "Now, it's the most famous. I connected them to the world."

Today he continues to innovate. Shadowing Dr Diego on his rounds, CGTN meets Inma Castano, a woman with bilateral lung tumors who had been told no treatment was possible. Dr Diego disagreed.

"I believed I could do it in one operation, both sides," he says, his eyes shining with unmistakable belief. He did – and within hours, she was ready to go home, her life restored.

Another patient, a middle-aged man with metastatic sarcoma, was bleeding internally.

"If we hadn't operated within days, he would've died," Dr Diego says. After two innovative surgeries – including one using a newly invented ventilation technique – the man was told he was tumor-free.

"These are the cases that remind me why we do this," Dr Diego says. "You're not just saving lives. You're changing futures."

Despite Dr Diego's many achievements, his mission still remains the same.

"My job is to give people a second chance," he says simply. "A few more years. A little more time to enjoy life."

His commitment to global health doesn't end in Asia. He recently launched a nonprofit foundation and built the world's first mobile minimally invasive surgical unit, which now travels through Africa delivering life-saving care in underserved regions.

"It's not about having the best tools," he says. "In Africa, you learn to adapt. No staplers, no cameras – and still, they save lives. That inspires me."

Although Dr Diego's mother can be credited for setting him on his path, the extraordinary journey he's taken has been shaped by his own perseverance.

"Nothing in life happens by chance. It's all hard work, persistence, and believing in your vision. You keep going – city to city, flight to flight, hospital to hospital – because you know what's possible."

In a time of global uncertainty, Dr Diego González Rivas is a reminder of what quiet leadership can look like. Not political, not performative – simply transformative.

He has built more than a surgical technique. He has built a movement. A global network of surgeons. A community of survivors. A medical alliance that transcends borders.

From Madrid to Shanghai, from robotic innovation to rural Africa, Dr Diego is not just healing lungs – he's healing lives.

And with each patient, each student, each bridge crossed, he builds something even greater: hope.