Imagine being 27 years old and having never walked upright. That was the plight of Mihret. She had been born with a congenital knee dislocation in both legs that made it impossible for her to stand on her own two legs. I saw her in the ER one day recently. She came from Addis Ababa – the capital city five hours away. And she had heard that our hospital was working miracles for people who had never walked. Her entire life, Mihret had crawled on her hands and knees. She wore flip-flops on her hands to protect them from the hot city pavement.
She was poor, and didn’t even have enough money to get x-rays taken of both knees. We worked out a deal so she could at least get the x-rays and talk to our orthopedic surgeon about treatment options. Since birth, her dislocated knees had only flexed in the wrong direction, making it impossible to stand. But Dr. Anderson saw her in the clinic and felt like if her knees could be fused, she could stand, and even walk with assistance.
She didn’t have a penny to pay for such a surgery, but our Benevolent Fund covered her.
A week after admission, she underwent the first surgery on the left leg. A complex procedure that lasted hours and involved putting a rod through her femur, bridging the distorted knee, and going into the tibia. Mihret lost a lot of blood, an issue complicated by the fact that her blood type was O negative – the most rare type. But she got transfused, and recovered for three weeks before having the right side done. According to Dr. Anderson, “With the experience on the left side, we were able to do the right side without as much bleeding.”
Just a few days after that, for the first time in her life, Mihret stood upright on her own two legs.
We have a weekly chapel service at the hospital on Wednesday morning that is attended by most of our hospital staff. We gave Mihret the opportunity to attend chapel, but not just attend. To walk down the center aisle. Never before has our staff reacted to a patient’s recovery like they did with her. There was exuberant cheering and applause, and some of our staff cried as Mihret gave thanks to them and to God. A day of rejoicing at Soddo Christian Hospital that will not soon be forgotten.
All of this was possible because of our Benevolent Fund. And you can be a part! We are actively recruiting donors to give on a recurring basis. Right now, we are looking for 100 donors to pledge $100 per month for the next year, so that more like Mihret can get life-transforming treatment. We are giving ourselves 100 days to find these donors. Join the team today!