If you’ve ever known a child who’s been very ill, you’ll understand what the parents of little Awemboro recently went through. The three-year-old had always been fairly healthy, until one day, when his mother Helina noticed that his eye looked red. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any medication for it, and by the next day, her son’s eye was oozing discharge.
Helina purchased some eye drops and applied them, but Awemboro’s condition steadily worsened. He developed a high fever and couldn’t eat. After a week, his parents took the little boy to Enyiresi Government Hospital, one of our hospital partners in Ghana. By this time, poor Awemboro was running a very high fever. Both his eyes were so severely swollen with discharge that he couldn’t open them!
Fortunately, the ophthalmic nurse at the eye clinic had been trained by Operation Eyesight, and was able to diagnose “orbital cellulitis,” which indicates a life-threatening emergency.
She consulted a general physician at the hospital and Awemboro was quickly admitted to the hospital. According to the doctor, the little boy had such a high bacterial load in his body that his life was in danger. He was put on systemic antibiotics and eye drops until the condition resolved. Today, he’s back to his normal, happy self!
As you can imagine, Awemboro’s parents are very relieved. They’re so grateful to our donors for providing funds to train the nurse, whose knowledge helped save the sight and life of their little son. On behalf of their family, thank you!
You can help more children like Awemboro. Donate today to help provide training for ophthalmic nurses, or to provide medical supplies like antibiotics and eye drops. Thank you for your support!