“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:30-31
Last week we shared with you the beginning of Adrian’s journey with us from an anonymous little boy with a severe disability, playing outside our school gate, to a member of our Mawewa School community. Following his joining our community, Njenga, our Community Relationship Developer, took up the cause of seeing Adrian acquiring the medical care he needed to help his clubfoot, through a partnership with AIC Kijabe Hospital’s CURE© clinic. After more than a year of working with his mother and numerous government offices, Njenga ensured that Adrian finally had all the documents he needed to begin his medical journey.
On December 1st 2021, Njenga took Adrian to his first appointment at the CURE© clinic in Nairobi where his foot was assessed. Unlike other children with a clubfoot who would need minor surgery to turn the twisted foot forward, because of the severity of Adrian’s clubfoot, his doctors confirmed that they would be unable to correct it, but instead advised Njenga that they would need to perform an amputation and then get a prosthesis. A second opinion was sought from one of Kenya’s top orthopedic surgeons, and once again Njenga made the arrangements and traveled with Adrian to Machakos which is about an hour away, for consultations with Dr. Levis Nguku. Dr. Nguku gave the same diagnosis, that the only option available was amputation and a prosthesis. The silver lining to this news was that Adrian was young enough that he would be able to quickly learn how to use the prosthesis and live a normal life, just like other children his age. Prior to his surgery, Adrian and his mother underwent counseling to help them understand the necessity for amputation and prepare them for his recovery.
Adrian underwent his surgery on January 10th 2022 at the CURE© clinic in Kijabe where he was admitted for 5 days following amputation just below the knee. Following the successful surgery, Adrian was discharged from the hospital and sent home for recovery. In May the preliminary work on his prosthesis began and he finally got fitted with the prosthesis on 30th June 2022.
We are grateful for Adrian’s successful surgery and recovery. Through it all, he kept a joyful positive attitude that blessed those around him. His journey so far was only made possible because of your support and the faithful work on the ground of people like Njenga who took the time and made the effort to support a child who others had not even considered helping through many challenges. Would you consider supporting the work that our faithful staff continues to do in Mathare and enable us to continue our work helping children like Adrian on their journey of transformation?