Suwilanji is a shy two-year-old girl from Zambia who has the heart of a fighter. She was born with the dangerous duo of hydrocephalus and spina bifida, but has already won half her battle by overcoming hydrocephalus - a life-threatening condition in which fluid accumulates and causes pressure on the brain.
Now, doctors at CURE would like to treat her spina bifida, a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings. "Part of her spinal cord is essentially protruding out of her back," they write, "so unless it's fixed, she won't walk and will be susceptible to becoming paralyzed because of the extremely vulnerable state the cord is in."
Being their first child, Suwilanji’s parents are anxious to see her get better. $2,000 will get her the spinal surgery she needs to live a normal childhood. This is the last stage in Suwilanji’s medical journey that will allow her to live a disability-free life.