“I have suffered enough,” says Mary, a 36-year-old woman from Kenya. “I hope be treated soon so that I can get back to helping my husband raise our children.”
Mary and her husband have three children, aged between eight and 13 years old. Mary used to earn money for the family by picking tea as a day laborer. Lately, however, she has not been able to able to do this work.
In December 2012, Mary—who is epileptic—had a seizure and fell into the kitchen fire. She sustained serious burns to her right hand and was hospitalized for two months. Despite this lengthy hospital stay, the burn did not heal correctly. Contractures, or tight, thickened patches of skin, formed where the burn had been. Three years later, Mary still experiences pain and numbness in the right hand, especially during the cold season. She is also unable to extend her fingers completely.
Mary had a graft surgery in 2014 to begin to address this problem, but will need more operations to fully correct it. Her doctors have scheduled her for contracture release surgery on September 25. But because the contractures have decreased Mary’s ability to work, her family’s income has dropped. They need your help to pay for her surgery.
$1,176 will sponsor Mary’s operation, as well as her lab tests, medications, and nine-day hospital stay. Let’s make sure this mother can return to good health so she can begin earning money again to support her children.
