Tapani NenonenUNIVERSAL FUND MEMBER
Tapani's Story

Tapani joined Watsi on March 18th, 2014. Eight years ago, Tapani joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. Tapani's most recent donation traveled 5,300 miles to support Exavier, an adorable 5-month-old baby from Haiti, to fund life-changing surgery to drain excess fluid from his brain.

Impact

Tapani has funded healthcare for 86 patients in 10 countries.

patients you have funded

Linda is a beautiful three-week-old baby from Kenya who is the youngest of three children. A few months prior to Linda's birth, her mother became very sick and lost her job as a security guard. Her mother shares that this created many challenges for their family because she was their sole source of income after Linda's father left them. Additionally, they have not had many people nearby to help them since they came from Uganda. Fortunately, a Ugandan friend of Linda's mother heard about her condition and offered to accommodate her. This good Samaritan has since been facilitating hospital transportation and providing Linda’s family with financial support where possible. Shortly after her birth, Linda was diagnosed with spina bifida, a type of neural tube defect in which the spine does not properly close around the spinal cord. Without treatment, Linda is at risk of lower-limb paralysis, infection of the exposed nervous tissue, development of tethered cord syndrome, and possible developmental delays. The public hospital where she was born was unable to offer her any treatment and instead referred her to our medical partner's care center, Bethanykids Kijabe Hospital. Upon arrival, Linda was found to be in critical condition. She was immediately admitted and put on medication. She stayed in the hospital for more than two weeks under the care of the medical team. Once she got better, she was discharged and scheduled to undergo spinal repair surgery. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1,151 to cover the cost of Linda's spina bifida closure surgery. The procedure is scheduled to take place on August 25th. This procedure will hopefully spare Linda from the risks associated with her condition and allow her to grow and develop along a healthy trajectory. Linda’s mother says, “I was shocked when I saw her at birth and did not know if she would ever be treated. Now, I have courage to face the future, as I have been told that she will be treated.”

$1,151raised
Fully funded

Asbel is a young farmer and the firstborn in a family of six. Asbel lives with his mother and siblings since their father passed away. The 28-year-old does farming to earn a living and sometimes is able to do other casual work in people’s farms. His siblings are young and his mother has no income-generating activity to support the family. He was forced to drop out of high school due to lack of funds to support his education. On arrival at the hospital, Asbel was checked by the doctors who also did an x-ray. This confirmed that he had sustained a metatarsal fracture with a dislocation on his right lower limb. Due to his condition, Asbel was taken to the operating theater for an urgent washout procedure to clean out his wound and then admitted to the hospital for pain management. He was also told that he would need surgery to fix the fractured bones. The condition has caused Asbel pain, swelling, and an open wound after a prick by a sharp object on his right foot while working on the farm. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner can help. On November 24th, Asbel will undergo a fracture repair procedure, called an open reduction and external fixation. He will be able to go back to farming and continue supporting his family. Now, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $853 to fund this procedure. Asbel says, “My hope is to get treated so that I can resume all my daily duties and provide for my family and my siblings.”

$853raised
Fully funded