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“Mummy, my tummy hurts.”
I look down into my little girl’s eyes. Her pain is my pain – and it tugs at my heart.
This is the one of many times over the last few days that she’s complained of a sore tummy. Enough is enough, I decide. I call the GP and ask for an appointment, knowing that because she’s under five we will be seen that the same day.
We go to the health centre. It’s just one mile from where we live. The doctor checks her tummy – he says there it’s not acute. He asks us to come back in a few days’ time if we need to. I carry her and walk away, without paying a penny, hoping that she’ll get better soon.
I can’t help but think of Selina, a two-year-old girl in Sierra Leone, and her mum Mariama.
Selina was born with a large umbilical hernia. It had grown to a 6cm lump. She was in pain every day.
“My daughter was born with this hernia problem,” says Mariama. “At first, I thought it was just a tummy ache. I took her to our local hospital, the doctors told me that it was a hernia, but she was too young for surgery.
“I suffer so much when my daughter is sick, she has been struggling with this tummy pain. She seriously cries out with pain.”
My heart breaks for Mariama. What must it be like to see your baby girl cry out with pain, and not even have access to basic medicine? To try to reassure your child who is clutching her tummy in pain, without knowing why, and without the hospital care she needs?
Sheltering Selina from shame
This loving mum suffered in other ways too – she found it hard to work, cook, and carry out her daily duties like many mums in her village. “When it pains her, it’s impossible to carry her on your back.”
Mariama fought to give Selina a happy childhood. But it was a struggle, because every time they left the house, Mariama was afraid of what people would say about her daughter.
“Most times, I used a bandage to cover the hernia when she went out, to stop people from mocking us.”
The relief of safe surgery
I can only imagine how Mariama felt when she heard Mercy Ships was coming to Sierra Leone. A floating hospital, bringing expert surgeons, medical equipment, hospital wards to your country. A place where her little girl can receive expert care – for free.
Dr John Zwiacher, Mercy Ships’ Volunteer Surgeon, will always remember her. “Selina has the largest smile I’ve ever seen. She was so excited to see pretty much anybody. When I came in, she would hug me, and hold my hand, and it was just very endearing.”
Without Mercy Ships, things could have become much more serious for Selina. Dr Zwiacher explained, “It will get larger. They can get as large as a grapefruit. She could get very sick and people die from obstructed hernias. We needed to fix it.”
Selina had free surgery on our floating hospital. Half an hour later, her hernia was healed. Dr Zwiacher said, “It’s not a very complex procedure, but it makes a big difference.”
Selina can now enjoy a happy childhood free from pain, ridicule, and the risks of an untreated hernia.
Help a child like Selina laugh again
Thanks to friends like you, Mercy Ships could be there for Selina when she needed help most.
But there are so many more children who are suffering without surgical care, just like Selina was.
It’s heartbreaking, but many children born with conditions like hernias in Africa will die before their fifth birthday.
Please will you help reach a child who needs urgent help? Your kindness will go twice as far this summer. Every £1 you can give will be doubled to £2, helping to bring life-changing care to twice as many patients like Selina.
What you can do:
Help a child laugh again. Go to mercyships.org.uk/premier
Come and find Mercy Ships at Big Church Festival, 22-24th August. Discover how you can help transform more lives like Selina’s.
Photos: Mercy Ships/Tirsa Tapia Zamora
