A mother who lived in fear her daughter’s fast-growing tumor would suffocate her is rejoicing after a surgical charity gave her daughter life-saving surgery.  Without a single maxillofacial surgeon in her home country of Sierra Leone, Yei had no one who could treat her daughter.  While she was pregnant, Yei had no ultrasound, and no reason to think her baby would be born anything but healthy. When she first saw the lump on her baby’s face and neck at birth, she felt devastated. 

Coumba was at her family’s farm on the day that her life changed forever.  “Our mother used to cook with fire,” she said. “It was a big farm, so my mother would start a fire in one place, then go to another. My little brother was playing by the fire, got too close, and started to burn.”  At just 4 years old, Coumba rushed in to save her brother as the fire grew.  “I fell on my left side, so I burned there,” Coumba said. “My brother was then crying a lot, which my mother heard, so she came to us, but I was already entirely burnt on my left side.”  With her left arm fused in a bent position and her hand damaged, Coumba adjusted to life with only one functional arm and hand. She grew up to marry, work as a maid, and raise three children on their rice and vegetable farm in northern Senegal. Coumba longed to take care of the farm herself, like many other women do in Senegal, but her limited range of motion made this dream impossible.  After decades of living with a bent arm, surgery on the Africa Mercy® meant that at the age of 31, Coumba’s life was about to change. 

On June 20, the Global Mercy™ held one last event before preparing to leave Senegal, welcoming partners from across Senegal and The Gambia to thank them for their support throughout this field service.  After years of planning, prayer, and partnership, the Global Mercy has been serving patients in Senegal. It all started in one special moment, as 4-year-old Amadou walked up the gangway of the hospital ship on his way to healing. Weeks later, Amadou departed down the same gangway. This time, he was walking on straight legs for the first time in his life. Now, he’ll be free to grow up healthy and tall, able to attend school and become independent one day.