Nahom Gebre Medhin is a 9 year old boy who came several hundred miles down from Tigrai for treatment. He had severe, progressive scoliosis with increasing pain and shortness of breath. His spine was shaped like a question mark, and he had lost nearly half of his lung capacity.
He has an amazingly supportive family – every time he had an appointment, a different brother would take vacation and bring him on the 2-day bus ride down to Addis Ababa.
He speaks only Tigrigna, his local language. Fortunately, we have a Tigrigna-speaking staff person in Ghana. Upon arrival in Ghana, he had 6 screws inserted into his skull. This was attached to a metal wheel, which encircled his head, and a hook on top of the wheel was attached to weights. He was stretched for about 2 weeks in the university hospital, before having his 12-hour surgery.
Click to read a thank you text message from Nahom and a letter of appreciation from Nahom’s family.
Take a look at the following photos of Nahom before and after his surgery. Click to enlarge.
Photos and messages posted by permission.
[...] Click for photos and more information about Nahom. [...]