William PfalzgraffUNIVERSAL FUND MEMBER
William's Story

William joined Watsi on January 3rd, 2015. Nine years ago, William joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. William's most recent donation traveled 8,200 miles to support Mamush, a 3-year-old boy from Ethiopia, to fund anorectal surgery.

Impact

William has funded healthcare for 69 patients in 11 countries.

Patients funded by William

Catherine is a 17-year-old student from Tanzania, the youngest in her family of three children. She is currently in Form Four and hoping to graduate secondary school this year. She is a shy but bright young girl. Catherine’s father is a construction worker and her mother owns a shop at their home where she sells day-to-day household stuff. Catherine has been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain and increases intracranial pressure. As a result of her condition, Catherine has been experiencing headaches for the past two weeks continuously. She was originally taken to the hospital and was tested for a UTI and malaria but found to have nothing wrong. Her headaches got more severe, followed by vomiting and irritability and could not control her urination. Her family was told to do a CT scan test but the surgeons were not satisfied with the results and needed to do an MRI. The MRI showed that there is build up of CSF fluids causing pressure in her brain and the doctors shared that Catherine needs surgery as soon as possible. Without treatment, Catherine will experience severe physical and developmental delays. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1,238 to cover the cost of surgery for Catherine to treat her hydrocephalus. The procedure is scheduled to take place on April 29th and will drain the excess fluid from Catherine's brain. This will reduce intracranial pressure and greatly improve her quality of life. With proper treatment, Catherine will hopefully develop into a strong, healthy young girl. Catherine says, “I would really like to get better and continue with school. Please help me get well.”

$1,238raised
Fully funded