Whiskeys in the air dogs on the burner beers ice cold got a pretty little lady to hold ohohoh its a southern summer that suns shinin down like daddys Silver Dollar gotta hop on the old dirt road to the days of gold hey hey hey hey hey hey [ cheers and applause ] tonight on nightline, expedition of hope. 72 hours, 2500 needy people lining up at dawn for urgently needed medical care as volunteers scramble to supply over 2 million worth of health care for free. What happens when the demand has no end in sight . Robert ellis walks 15 miles through the night to have his teeth and ears fixed but doctors notice theres something more. Pain in your chest . Is he just in time for saving grace . Were in coal country where jobs and money are scarce. Its just one of many parts of this country where remote area medical can be a life saver. I can change like that. This special edition of nightline, off the map, this is a special edition of nightline. Off the map, expedition of hope. Thanks for joining us. Im juju chang. We celebrate the gift of healing in a remote part of rural virginia, people come from all around for a free clinic providing medical aid they couldnt otherwise afford. In a coal mining economy hit hard, many have to swallow their pride as they line up for basic care, young women and men. Bob woodruff has another look at our series. Reporter its 5 00 a. M. Nearly 1500 people have been lining up for the past 24 hours in the parking lot of the wise county fairgrounds in southwest virginia. Show us your number. Reporter they arent here for a summertime affair. What are you doing here . I come to get new dentures. I have issues. I have a hole in my knee. I had problems with my lungs. Im trying to see a specialist. Reporter this is remote area medical. A traveling Health Clinic known as brown. And this is stan brock. Were heading for the gates to let people in. Reporter for the next three days brock and a team of volunteers will turn this fairground that a makeshift hospital providing medical care to more than 2500 people. People are showing up. Reporter and nightline was invited along to watch. Its always an amazing sight, isnt it that here in america at 5 00 in the morning with rain threatening theres 1500 people out there. Reporter towards the front of the line the horani family is waiting. The early hours trying the dwaynes patience. This is the second year theyve come. As a family, what are youing looking for, dental, vision. Both. Reporter they dont have they have but what they have isnt enough. We bring them here we they reporter brian and heather get their teeth looked at. Cavities that need to be reporter for their teenage daughters their eyes. I need glasses. Reporter whats your Ticket Number . Were 101 to 110. Reporter the lowest numbers get in first, those with the highest numbers could wait for days. Youre one of the first in. Good job. Reporter farther back in line, the ramos family has spent the long night in a car. How are your eyes . I want to make sure theyre okay. I have to lean down or when i go to pick the book up i have to put it right here. Reporter why are you coming here instead of an eye doctor or work is really hard and money is real tight. This is free and the last three years i passed it up because im kind of prideful but this year i was compelled to come. Reporter whats your number . Well 1132. Reporter 1132. Reporter probably sometime later in the day youll get care. They will have to wait a while. Just before sunrise the wise Virginia Graham clinic officially begins. Whos got number 1. Reporter within 30 minutes the horani family passes through the gate. We have to go through the triage. Reporter their vital signs are checked. Blood pressure and blood sugar too. And then the family disperses, brian and heather to get their teeth worked on. Youre doing cleaning. You hang on good. Reporter the twin boy, jaden and hayden go to get dental xrays. Now, bud. Here you go. Reporter and then a cleaning. Let me see your teeth. Reporter both twins get a clean bill of dental health. Yeah. You did super. Very good. Reporter by early afternoon jordan is able to get in to see the eye doctor. Better one orb reporter a change in her prescription means a trip to the eyeglass tent. Okay. No. Reporter and successful search for a pair of frames. Okay. Okay. Reporter over in the optical lab tom and Judy Dandridge oversee an Assembly Line for grinding lenses helping people see clearly sometimes for the very first time in year. Thats what keeps you going. You get frustrated. Aggravated because you want to change it and you cant change it so you just do your best and, you know, you thank god that he put you here to do what you do youve got 40 or 50 Million People that are in this category that dont have insurance and cant get the care that they need or cant afford it. Reporter Teresa Gardner was born here, still lives here. 14 years ago she invited graham to hold a clinic here and sadly it just keeps growing every year. There are people out there in wheelchairs waiting to get in. They slept in that field overnight in their cars. Yeah, right. Reporter thats pretty remarkable. We actually see them lining up days in advance for this event. We sure did and its just incredible the desperation they need for health care in the country because health care is so expensive. Reporter does that anger you . I dont knowment i dont have time much to get angry. Reporter graham couldnt pull this off without the 1400 volunteers who donate their time, expertise and compassion. People like anna rollinss who a been coming here suns she was 8. How did you start being involved in this . I just started doing some work and eventually moved up to be an assistant and now im looking to go to hygiene school. Reporter all of this influenced what youll do for your career. Yes. Reporter remember the gentleman hoping to get dentures. After 24 hours of waiting. Do you recognize yourself in that mirror . No. Reporter he had volunteer dentist scott miller to thank. I mean its the only thing i can do that i can change somebodys life like that. Youre great. Its rewarding. Its what brings me back every year. Reporter i even run into a navy nurse working at the bethesda Naval Hospital seven years ago when i was there recovering from injuries sustained from an ied in iraq. The guys reporter nobody guys that are better than you. By the end of the first day some 1200 patients had been seen. How was today . It went really well. They give a lot of encouragement on what i can do next for mine. Reporter jordan has picked up her new classes. Her twin brothers, teeth cleaned quit scabling. How are your teeth . Let me see them. Ouch. They look pretty good. Better than last time. We werent expecting anything. Ears and health and stuff like that. Well definitely be back every year. Reporter but even with all the volunteers, dental chairs answer good intentions as the day winds down not everyone has been seen. Youre going, folks. Reporter which means the next day begins with people like the ramochlth s family coming back for a second day. Only thing we got done standing in line, paperwork done and got our bands. Reporter and hundreds of new people arrive including one man who walked through the night to reach the clinic. I need my teeth fixed. Theyre really bad and my hearing. I dont know which one is worse. Reporter when robert ellis goes through triage. He said he had pain in his chest when walking up here this morning. Reporter something potentially more serious is uncovered. Shortness of breath involved . Reporter when we come back, we follow ellis to see the heart doctor as hundreds more continue to wait for treatment. Its day two at remote area medical. [ male announcer ] when you feel good, no one is immune. Emergenc has more vitamin c than 10 oranges plus other antioxidants and electrolytes to help you come down with a serious case of healthy. Emergenc. Making healthy contagious. To help you come down with a serious case of healthy. [knock] no one was at home, but on the Kitchen Table sat three insurance policies. The first had lots of coverage. The second, only a little. But the third was. Just right bear hi yeah, we love visitors. Thats why we moved to a secluded house in the middle of the wilderness. Just the right coverage at just the right price. Coverage checker from progressive. Because we know how much you do to make the holidays just right. From ornaments to ottomans, memories are made with ikea. In an out of the way part of rural virginia an annual threeday event brings people from far and wide for free medical care they need. Its a completely volunteer operation of people who treat thousands in need and sadly, the demand is growing every year. Here again abcs bob woodruff. Reporter wise, virginia, is a coal mining county far from any major airport, stan brock flew in from knoxville where ram is based. Ham has done over 700 expedition as brock calls the clinics since 1985. This idea came to him when he was injured on a cattle ranch in the amazon, 26 days on foot from the nearest doctor to help ot r others he brought medical tees to other undeveloped countries like india, haiti. Good morning. Reporter but what brock quickly learned was that there was desperation in the u. S. , as well, especially in places likewise where jobs have disappeared and few doctors hang their shingles. Sort of onetime opportunity that they know they can afford to get the care that they need. Reporter the wise clinic is one of the largest that they do here in the United States, serving some 2500 people. And on the second morning, hundreds again line up in the predawn darkness for a chance to see a doctor. So the first thing were going to do is bring in the people left over and waiting here for what, some of them 24 hours or more. Youre going, folks. Reporter among the hundreds streaming in the ramoses who is waited more than 24 hours. Only thing we got done was standing in line, paperwork done and we got our bands. Reporter but suddenly this man has moved to the front of the line. Robert ellis has walked 15 miles through the night Walking Stick in hand to get here. I had a ride but i didnt have enough gas to put in my truck so i told the old lady id just walk. Reporter even though his son returned the day before from afghanistan ellis knew he had to come to wise. I need my teeth fix. Theyre bad and my hearing i dont know which is worse. Reporter his visit to triage uncovers something else. You said you had some pain in his chest charge he was walking up here this morning. Do you have it right now . No, i dont have it right now. Shortness of breath involved . Yes, sir. Nausea and vomiting. Reporter dental and hearing will have to wait as hes taken to cardiology. Often its starting to come more often. Reporter the clinic offers specialty areas including cardiology, dermatology, orthopedics even mobile xray units and denture labs. People, well see here never get teeth if we dont give them to them. 80 chairs up and running, 16 Eye Examination stations and two optical labs grinding 600 pairs of glasses a day. About 10,000 lenses on here. Reporter manning it all are those volunteers. Whose ranks have grown by one as virginia senator tim kaine slips into registration to do his part. Emergency contact. Reporter by brocks estimation kaine is one of only a dozen politicians here. This is the most powerful nation on earth. Reporter by the afternoon ellis is getting his eyes checked. I can read a. Ircan tell what reporter pretty much everything else. Thank you. Thanks. My Blood Pressure medicine and i had my hearing checked. Im going to need hearing aids. They fit molds in both my ears. I kneed that and after i get done with this im going to have my teeth pulled. I didnt think id get this much done today. I really didnt. Reporter on sunday morning the third and final day the crowd is much smaller. Its a short day and so were bringing in really just an extra hundred people in vision and an extra hundred people in dental and that should just about do it for the morning. Reporter the very last of the dental patients continue to be worked on. This equipment is packed up and the heavens open. We dont need to be doing this in the other countries. I would rather be back in haiti and india and africa and where this Organization Began in the amazon than doing it here in the worlds richest country but i dont see this ending they time soon. Reporter the numbers from the weekend support the claim. Some 1200 dental patients have been seen, 4,000 teeth pulled. 900 pairs of glasses provided. In total over 2 million worth of health care provided all free of charge. Doesnt matter where you go in the United States youll find these huge numbers of people that either dont have access to care because its an underserved area or in most cases they simply cant afford to go to the dentition. They cant afford to go to the eye doctor. And so theyre going to be relying on the kind of services that we provide. Reporter for nightline im bob woodruff, in wise, virginia. The remeet area medical Team Continues its work this season and recently traveled to the philippines to help victims of the of the devastating typhoon. Our thanks to bob for that report. To find out more visit our website at abcnews. Com nightline. When we come back, a stunning never before seen look at the fight to survive in the animal kingdom. O get a new 2014. It gets an impressive 34 highway mpg and comes with no charge scheduled maintenance. And right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature. Sign. Then drive. Get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on any new 2014 volkswagen. Hurry, this offer ends january 2nd. Visit vwdealer. Com today so heres to the bride and. [ coughs ] [ all gasp ] [ male announcer ] robitussin dm max now comes in a new liquidfilled capsule. Nothing provides more powerful cough relief. Robitussin. Dont suffer the coughequences. Like the enticing aroma and distinctive taste of nespresso. Elegant capsules meet masterfully crafted machines, and one touch creates the perfect coffee, cappuccino, and latte. Tempt all your senses with one extraordinary coffee. [ Penelope Cruz ] nespresso. What else . [ male announcer ] available at these fine retailers and nespressous. Com. And finally tonight, tis the night before christmas and the reindeer are on the move but theyre not the only ones stirring. In facts, there are more than 9 million species on the planet and just staying alive takes brains as well as braun with the never before seen look at the survival extinct, heres Cynthia Mcfadden. Reporter for the nearly 9 million species that live on planet earth the daily struggle to exist requires ingenuity, creativity and resourcefulness using stunning footage from 10,000 hours of material nat geo wild takes them for a look at the animal kingdom. Every animal has that same path. Theyre born, try to survive, they pass on their genes and then they die. Its much more complex than that. Reporter unexpected and surprising animal relationships abound like the work of this strawberry poison frog that individually carries its thinkly hatched tadpoles up trees to pools of water. And then returns every few days to feed the tadpole until it grows into a frog. If that isnt a picture painted of a mother caring for her child i dont know what it is and it is a frog. Reporter these grass cutter ants cant eat it so they chop the grass, carry it to their home where they feed it to a fungus they can eat and built in ventilation to get rid of excess carbon dioxide. Being resourceful theyd be gone. Reporter some animals are freaks of nature. But survivors nonetheless. The predator plant, the venus ply trap, the chameleon with its tongue like a missile. The stag beetle that uses its jaws to fight and other animals that survive and thrive in more creative ways such as these birds in oregon who perform a dance tore their true love. And this lizard in belize appears to walk on water when it runs. This film certainly paints a picture of nature on the inside. We all know that nature is on the outside but if we open up our own hearts and mights and find that beauty on the inside i think that we will fall in love with the animals in a different way and we need to because we are all attached. We all need each other. Reporter learning more about each other to learn how much we all need each other. Im Cynthia Mcfadden for