Nirmal's Story

Nirmal joined Watsi on September 9th, 2017. Five years ago, Nirmal joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. Nirmal's most recent donation supported Emmanuel, a 39-year-old loving father from Haiti, to fund the medical care and travel needed for specialized heart surgery.

Impact

Nirmal has funded healthcare for 69 patients in 10 countries.

patients you have funded

Stephen is a young man from Kenya. He is the firstborn in a family of 3 children. Their family has relied on their mother to provide for them as his father passed away when he was young boy. His mother does deliveries for different shop owners around their town. Stephen had to drop out from college do to inability to pay his school fees, and he now helps around the house and helps his mother with the deliveries, which is the how the family makes ends meet. Stephen has been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain and increases intracranial pressure. As a result of his condition, Stephen has been experiencing severe headaches since this past July. He visited a hospital where a CT scan was done that revealed that he had a cyst that was obstructing the normal flow of fluid in and out of the head. An urgent surgery was recommended to remove the cyst, but he did not undergo it due to not having the funds for the procedure. A shunt insertion surgery has been recommended along with a craniotomy that will be performed later to remove the cyst. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $720 to cover the cost of surgery for Stephen that will treat his hydrocephalus. The procedure is scheduled to take place on November 23rd and will drain the excess fluid from Stephen's brain. This will reduce intracranial pressure and greatly improve his quality of life. With proper treatment, Stephen will hopefully continue to develop into a strong, healthy man. Stephen says, “I really want to be treated so that I can help my mom provide for us.”

66%funded
$476raised
$244to go

Kasotot is a cheerful 68-year-old woman from the arid region of Baringo County in Kenya. She is a widow and mother of seven children who are all grown. She lives with her youngest son and grandson. The main economic activity in the area is livestock herding of cattle, sheep, and goats. It is a challenging life, affected by insecurity, cattle rustling, and a lack of schools and other services. Most people barter with their neighboring communities for food and/or sell their animals in order to get money for food. Kasotot has no knowledge of medical insurance, and lives in a place full of hardships with no opportunity to do any saving. Kasotot suffers from epilepsy and last month she had a seizure that made her fall into the fire and burn her foot. She went to the closest hospital for treatment. Her wound condition worsened with time and when she went back to the hospital it was already infected. The facility was small, and was unable to provide the needed treatment, so she was referred to Kapsowar Hospital. Upon examination, she was admitted for urgent debridement, or deep cleaning of the wound. Kasotot is currently confined to a wheelchair, thus not able to work. Her wound is now clean after a successful wound debridement, but she requires a free tissue flap in order to reconstruct her burned foot and quicken her healing. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is helping Kasotot receive treatment. On November 7th, surgeons will perform surgery so Kasotot will be able to walk, work and provide for herself so as to not overly burden her son and grandson. Now, she needs help to fund this $1,478 procedure. Kasotot says, “I have really burdened my son and grandson now that I cannot walk on my own. It really hurts when all they can do is look after me while I cannot help them as I did before. Kindly help me so that we can be together in order to bring food to our table and strive together to get our basic needs.”

88%funded
$1,307raised
$170to go

Abraham is a 27-year-old farmer from Kenya. He is a happy and joyful man who loves smiling. Abraham is married with two sons aged six and three years. He also does construction work when he can find jobs on local building projects. His wife sells secondhand clothes at the local markets around. Abraham and his family live in a rental house which has two rooms. He works hard but it has been difficult to earn a living and pay his monthly bills. Earlier last year, Abraham was among the people who got sponsorship from the county to study in technical training institutes. He is almost done with his studies and will soon be able to work toward a better job. Abraham arrived at the hospital on Saturday afternoon with right lower limb pain. On physical examination, his lower limb had bruises and it was swollen to the knee. After the examination, the clinician recommended an x-ray and the results revealed that Abraham had sustained a fracture of the upper end of tibia and fibula. The Orthopedic surgeon met him and recommends that he undergo surgery. Abraham has no medical insurance coverage, and he is now appealing to all well-wishers to help him in order to get his surgery. Abraham shared that he was hit by a tree while cutting it down. He cannot walk easily and more and has a lot of pain and swelling. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner can help. On September 27th, Abraham will undergo a fracture repair procedure, called an open reduction and internal fixation. After surgery Abraham will be able to continue with his studies, and he will no longer have pain. Now, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1145 to fund this procedure. Abraham says, “I cannot walk without support. I am really worried because of my family. Kindly help me so that I may be able to get back to them and offer them my support.”

$1,145raised
Fully funded

Myo Htay is a 22-year-old who lives with his parents and younger brother in the border region of Burma. His parents work as day laborers at a gold mine, carrying dirt and debris. Myo used to work with his parents but stopped last November when his health deteriorated. Because the gold mine closes during the rainy season, his parents only have work for six months out of the year. The rest of the time they try to live off of their savings. Around six months ago, Myo started to feel tired when he worked. At first he thought he was tired from working too hard. When he continued to feel tired for over a month, he thought that he needed to see a doctor. However, because of their limited funds, he did not want his parents to spend what they had on a trip to a clinic or a hospital. Around the middle of April, his condition worsened. He had difficulty breathing, experienced chest pain, and also heart palpitations. His parents brought him to a nearby hospital where he was diagnosed with a heart disease. The doctor told them to bring him to Yangon for further treatment. After Myo's parents borrowed money, they went to Yangon and took him to two different hospitals. At the last hospital, Myo was admitted for five days as he was unwell at that time. He received a follow-up appointment for two weeks later, but was brought back on April 30th when he developed rapid breathing, heart palpitations, chest pain and oedema (swelling) in both his legs. Myo was readmitted to the hospital, and the doctor told Myo's parents that his surgery would cost 20,000,000 kyat (approx. $11,000 USD). When they told the doctor that they cannot afford to pay for his surgery, a nurse gave them the phone number of an abbot in Yangon. After they called the abbot and told him what the doctor had said, the abbot referred Myo to our medical parter Burma Children Medical Fund for the assistance accessing the cardiac treatment he needs. Currently, Myo is on oxygen. If he does not receive oxygen, he has difficulty breathing as well as heart palpitations. He cannot walk for more than three minutes and if he does, he feels extremely tired. His whole family is worried about his condition. Fortunately, Myo's surgery has been scheduled for May 8th. He will have both valves of his heart replaced. His family needs $1,500 to help with the total cost of his surgery and care. Myo’s mother said, “I would give up everything to save my son’s life. I would sleep on the ground if we had no home to live in. I only wish to see my son getting better.”

$1,500raised
Fully funded

Blessings is a beautiful 5-month-old girl and the only child in her young family. Her mother hopes to return to finishing school once Blessings is stronger and healthier. Blessings’s grandmother has stopped working to help take care of her grandchild and their family relies on Blessings’s grandfather who is employed as a gardener. Blessings has been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain and increases intracranial pressure. As a result of her condition, Blessings has been experiencing increasing head circumference. Her mother gathered some funds with the help of Blessing’s grandmother and took her to a hospital. She was examined and the doctor requested a scan. At that moment their family did not have any money for the scan and they had to go home without knowing the way forward. While at home, they gathered more funds and went to another facility. Blessings was examined again and a scan was done. This center then referred their family to another facility in Nairobi for treatment. They shared that they went back home with the hopes of Blessings getting treated crushed as they could not afford the treatment that she needed. Thankfully, our medical partner's mobile clinic team visited the area where a relative referred them to their clinic. Blessings was examined and referred to BethanyKids Hospital, where she can finally undergo surgery. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $720 to cover the cost of surgery for Blessings that will treat her hydrocephalus. The procedure is scheduled to take place on April 6th and will drain the excess fluid from Blessings's brain. This will reduce intracranial pressure and greatly improve her quality of life. With proper treatment, Blessings will hopefully develop into a strong, healthy young girl. Blessings’s mother says, “I would like my child to be treated so that she is healthy and I can go back to school."

$720raised
Fully funded