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Mary is a joyful 8-year-old child from Kenya who needs $1,185 to fund treatment to help a burn wound on her face to heal properly.

Mary
60%
  • $720 raised, $464 to go
$720
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$464
to go
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December 8, 2022

Mary is an eight-year-old girl. She is a talkative and playful young girl. She is the last born in a family of seven children and the family is not well off financially. Both of her parents do casual jobs like ploughing people’s farms for a living and such jobs are not easy to find where they live. Sometimes the church members chip in to help them where they can.

When Mary was one year old, she was involved in an accident where she sustained burns to her head, some parts of her face and neck. She was rushed to the hospital and was admitted for better care. While in the hospital, a surgery was done on her head where she had sustained more burns. She was then discharged and booked for wound dressing clinics. The wounds were healing well as per the doctors’ plan. Her parents managed to take her for the clinics for a few months but later stopped because of finances.

While at home, the wound got infected but due to lack of funds, she was not taken to hospital at that time. Time went by and the infection spread to most parts of the head. When she was three years old, the family met up with a local pastor who started helping them. He started financing Mary’s hospital visits with the help of some church members where he ministered. The wound was dressed again but the recovery process was very slow. In mid this year, the pastor brought them to Kijabe Hospital, she was examined, and the wound was dressed properly. Since then, the wound has been healing as expected.

Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Mary receive treatment. On December 9th, surgeons will perform a debridement and skin graft procedure to help the remaining wound to heal properly. Now, Mary’s family needs help to fund this $1,185 procedure.

Mary’s father says, “Since the accident, we have been struggling a lot to make her get the required treatment but have failed to some extent. Coming to Kijabe, our hopes have been boosted greatly with the improvement she has experienced, and we hope that she will go through with the surgery and be well again.”

Mary is an eight-year-old girl. She is a talkative and playful young girl. She is the last born in a family of seven children and the family...

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Mary's Timeline

  • December 8, 2022
    PROFILE SUBMITTED

    Mary was submitted by Ruth Kanyeria, SAFE Program Coordinator at African Mission Healthcare.

  • December 13, 2022
    TREATMENT SCHEDULED

    Mary was scheduled to receive treatment at AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. Medical partners often provide care to patients accepted by Watsi before those patients are fully funded, operating under the guarantee that the cost of care will be paid for by donors.

  • December 13, 2022
    PROFILE PUBLISHED

    Mary's profile was published to start raising funds.

  • TODAY
    AWAITING FUNDING

    Mary is currently raising funds for her treatment.

  • TBD
    AWAITING UPDATE

    Awaiting Mary's treatment update from African Mission Healthcare.

Funded by 30 donors

Treatment
Debridement & Skin Graft
  • Cost Breakdown
  • Diagnosis
  • Procedure
On average, it costs $1,185 for Mary's treatment
Hospital Fees
$1,020
Medical Staff
$0
Medication
$85
Supplies
$0
Labs
$23
Other
$57
  • Symptoms
  • Impact on patient's life
  • Cultural or regional significance

​What kinds of symptoms do patients experience before receiving treatment?

Symptoms include burns, open wound, pain and Inability/difficulty in walking, infection, scarring and disfigurement. Debridement and skin grafting are surgical processes used to treat serious wounds and burns.

​What is the impact on patients’ lives of living with these conditions?

The condition involves an open wound, pain and inability or difficulty in walking. The wound affects the ability to work or perform normal daily tasks.

What cultural or regional factors affect the treatment of these conditions?

Damaged skin and wounds are common in Kenya due to poor living conditions. Families use open flames for cooking and warmth, leading to burns. Traumatic wounds from farming accidents, road accidents, and violence are also common. Poorly controlled diabetes, an emerging problem, also causes infection and skin breakdown.

  • Process
  • Impact on patient's life
  • Risks and side-effects
  • Accessibility
  • Alternatives

What does the treatment process look like?

Debridement is the removal of dead/damaged tissue skin, and skin grafting is the process of covering damaged areas with healthy skin. Skin grafting involves the transplantation of skin from one body site to another. The transplanted tissue is called a skin graft.

What is the impact of this treatment on the patient’s life?

Treatment heals the wound and restores normal functioning.

What potential side effects or risks come with this treatment?

The risks of treatment are limited. The skin graft may fail or may become infected.

How accessible is treatment in the area? What is the typical journey like for a patient to receive care?

There are few quality centers in developing countries. Hospitals lack adequate resources and expertise to treat this condition.

What are the alternatives to this treatment?

Amputation, if treatment is delayed. Usually, by the time the patient has come to one of the AMHF partner hospitals, other approaches such as antibiotics and dressing changes have already been tried.

Meet another patient you can support

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Nafissa

Meet Nafissa. She is a 25-year old woman who shared that she tends to be very shy and reserved. She lives with her parents and her young child in an area of Burkina Faso where conflict is currently impacting their lives deeply. When she was a child, Nafissa developed a painful growth on the left side of her chin. This swelling in her lower jawbone affected her ability to eat, and was determined to be a benign tumor that needed to be removed. Her parents were able to secure the funds to send Nafissa to a hospital in Togo, where she could be treated at no cost to her family. The growth was removed, and for several years, Nafissa did well. However, the growth recurred, and in the middle of last year, Nafissa returned to Togo, where the second growth was excised. This time, however, the surgeon determined that her whole jawbone would also need to be removed. As the doctor in Togo did not have the necessary training to perform the surgery that Nafissa needed, he referred her to a physician with our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare. Miraculously, Nafissa is now scheduled for a major jaw surgery with the leading team at AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. As Nafissa's husband abandoned her because of her condition, and provides no support to Nafissa or their child, Nafissa and her parents are looking to you to help fund the $1,500 procedure, which will finally relieve Nafissa of the pain and symptoms that result from the tumor. Nafissa says: “It pains me that I have to stay at home with no friends. Making it worse, I cannot work to provide for my child.”

57% funded

57%funded
$861raised
$639to go

Meet another patient you can support

100% of your donation funds life-changing surgery.

Nafissa

Meet Nafissa. She is a 25-year old woman who shared that she tends to be very shy and reserved. She lives with her parents and her young child in an area of Burkina Faso where conflict is currently impacting their lives deeply. When she was a child, Nafissa developed a painful growth on the left side of her chin. This swelling in her lower jawbone affected her ability to eat, and was determined to be a benign tumor that needed to be removed. Her parents were able to secure the funds to send Nafissa to a hospital in Togo, where she could be treated at no cost to her family. The growth was removed, and for several years, Nafissa did well. However, the growth recurred, and in the middle of last year, Nafissa returned to Togo, where the second growth was excised. This time, however, the surgeon determined that her whole jawbone would also need to be removed. As the doctor in Togo did not have the necessary training to perform the surgery that Nafissa needed, he referred her to a physician with our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare. Miraculously, Nafissa is now scheduled for a major jaw surgery with the leading team at AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. As Nafissa's husband abandoned her because of her condition, and provides no support to Nafissa or their child, Nafissa and her parents are looking to you to help fund the $1,500 procedure, which will finally relieve Nafissa of the pain and symptoms that result from the tumor. Nafissa says: “It pains me that I have to stay at home with no friends. Making it worse, I cannot work to provide for my child.”

57% funded

57%funded
$861raised
$639to go