Surgeons flown by MAF give help and healing to ten-year-old boy who suffered with wrist injury for years.
Young Geoffrey Rwotomiya’s left wrist became swollen several years ago and, without proper treatment, the injury led to compartment syndrome, a painful condition that occurs when pressure within the muscles builds to dangerous levels.
One day Geoffrey returned home from school with a swollen hand. The family thought he had a fracture. Later, when they went to the hospital, they realised it was a dislocation.
Geoffrey never told anybody what really happened. The swelling increased so much that his clothes could not fit him. When they took him back to hospital, they found he had some blood in the bone. When they were struggling to find solutions for the boy, a neighbour directed them to a herbalist in Adjumani, in the northwest of the country.
In Adjumani, the herbalist started giving medicine to the boy. He peeled off the skin of the part that was swollen and continued to administer the herbs until the hand appeared to heal. But in the process, the hand became stiff. From the medication he received, the boy could not feel pain in the hand. The medicine he was given left the hand almost paralysed.
This meant the boy from Gulu in Uganda only had the use of one hand.
“But now after this operation, the pain is getting back - he can even stretch his hand,” said Geoffrey’s mother, Grace Adong.
Three years I have not been able to settle down. I have been moving up and down looking for healing for this boy.
But MAF flights enabled a team from Ohana One and Pipeline Worldwide to bring life-changing surgeries to Gulu and Moyo in northern Uganda.
Geoffrey, his mother and one-year-old brother, had been staying in a cramped room at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor, sharing the space with three other families but they believed the visit by the specialists could give him the life-changing care he desperately needed.
After the surgery, Geoffrey said: “I will be very happy to use my two hands again.”
His mother, expressed her gratitude, saying, “I'm very happy because my son was using one hand, but I will be really happy if he starts to use the two hands again.”
The MAF flight was essential to the work of the surgeons because the journey to Gulu currently takes at least 10 hours due to ongoing bridge construction.
Kylie Tanabe, co-founder of surgical aid organisation Ohana One, appreciated the efficiency of MAF's flights from Kajjansi Airfield in the capital Kampala.
There’s no way our team would have accomplished what we did because just going from Kampala to Gulu is 10 hours, and in 10 hours, we are able to accomplish so many surgeries.
Dr Derrick Mukurasi, a doctor at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor, who worked on Geoffrey and also benefited from being trained in plastic surgery, said, “For a young boy like Geoffrey, for me to have an opportunity to work on him to the extent that now he’s able to use his limbs, and being able to earn a living from that hand, no words can explain that.”
Jamie Lynn Nollette, founder of Pipeline Worldwide which supports communities in East Africa, highlighted the importance of collaboration in making the surgical mission possible.
For us, over the years, our biggest lesson is collaboration. Collaboration is really critical in order to increase the impact. The power of teamwork – when organisations come together.
The medical team is optimistic about Geoffrey’s future, as he is scheduled for additional surgeries aimed at improving the functionality of his hand and fingers.
Dr Derrick added, “The impact goes beyond the now. It’s generations to come when the patient is a grown-up person and they're able to earn from your intervention.”
