Ryan Dutch
Ryan's Story

Ryan joined Watsi on February 2nd, 2016. 36 other people also joined Watsi on that day! Ryan's most recent donation supported Nancy, a baby girl from Kenya, for anorectal surgery.

Impact

Ryan has funded healthcare for 5 patients in 4 countries.

Patients funded by Ryan

Nancy is a 20-month-old baby girl who lives with her parents in a remote village in Kenya. Nancy’s mother is a housewife, and her father sells khat to sustain the needs of the young family. Nancy was born with a small anal opening. During the first six months of her life, while she was only feeding on breast milk, she did not have trouble passing stool. When she started eating solid foods, she began to have a difficult time passing stool, and her stomach started to swell. Nancy was taken to several hospitals by her parents, and eventually, she had a colostomy done to create an opening on her upper abdomen for passing stool. Her parents were able to pay for the surgery through financial contributions from friends and family, but as time passed, it became more and more expensive for them to cater to their child’s medical expenses. To prevent infections, Nancy's parents must keep the area around the colostomy clean. “This is really hard for us—very hard,” says Nancy’s father. Keeping the area clean has also been expensive, making it more difficult for the family to raise the funds required for the next phase of Nancy's medical care. Now, Nancy needs a pull-through surgery—an anorectoplasty—to create an anal opening through which she can pass stool normally. $1,260 pays for the surgery, and Nancy's parents are contributing $21 to cover additional costs associated with her care. “Please help my daughter get treated, as we have exhausted funds in trying to get her treated," shares Nancy's father. "My prayer is to have her treated. I really understand her condition, and I am desperate to make life easier for her."

$1,260raised
Fully funded

Soe is a 27-year-old woman who lives with her husband in Burma. Soe came to our medical partner, Burma Border Projects (BBP), seeking treatment for gallstones. The gallbladder—a small, pear-shaped organ that sits under the liver—stores and drains bile. When an individual has gallstones, bile drainage may be blocked, causing irritation, spasms, pain, nausea, and vomiting. “Soe is experiencing stomach and lower back pain making it difficult for her to sleep and eat,” BBP tells us. “Usually, when she eats, she feels nauseous and needs to vomit.” Until recently, Soe had a job as a waitress at a hotel restaurant in Thailand, but her symptoms made it impossible for her to work. Facing financial trouble, she and her husband returned to Burma in the hopes of finding treatment for Soe and receiving support from their family. For $1,500, Soe will undergo a laparotomy, a surgical procedure to access the abdominal cavity and remove the gallbladder. Funding also covers the costs of an eight-day hospital stay, transportation to and from the hospital, pre- and post-surgical consultations, and blood tests. “Soe should fully recover following her gallstone surgery,” says BBP. “She should be able to return to her family and again find a job so that she and her husband can save money for their future.” Soe looks forward to a successful operation. “I will work and save money for the next few years, and then, one day, we will have a happy family,” she shared in her pre-operative interview with BBP.

$1,500raised
Fully funded