John's Story

John joined Watsi on March 12th, 2013. Six years ago, John joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. John's most recent donation supported Ah, a former carpenter from Burma, to fund heart surgery.

Impact

John has funded healthcare for 81 patients in 12 countries.

Patients funded by John

Tony is a 23-year-old student from Kenya. He was raised by a single mom and shared that she passed away a few years ago. He now lives with his elderly grandparents in rural Kenya. Tony has six siblings, who are all in school. Tony is in his third year at the university, where he is studying industrial chemistry. Unfortunately, he had to miss his end-of-semester exams because of his injuries and the need to use his school fees to cover his treatment costs. Tony also works part-time as a writer, but the income is insufficient to cover his school and medical bills. At the end of March, Tony was attacked by a group of people who took his valuables and hit him with a blunt object, causing serious injuries on the left side of his face. Tony was rushed to a nearby health facility for first aid and referred to a government hospital in the city the next day. The CT scan images revealed fractures in his face. Tony urgently needs to undergo surgery for his bones to heal properly. It is also difficult for him to open his mouth or eat due to his injuries. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner can help. On April 18th, Tony will undergo a fracture repair procedure called an open reduction and internal fixation. The procedure will help him eat and chew comfortably, and he will be able to resume his studies. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH), is requesting $979 to fund this procedure. Tony said: “I missed my exams because of the injury. I cannot eat or chew anything. I need this surgery to be able to eat and use my mouth well again.”

$979raised
Fully funded

Kidus is a cute and playful little boy. He loves playing with toys and football with other children. His favorite food is Shiro (Ethiopian staple food) and meat. He also loves watching cartoons and is good at observing and imitating some characters from cartoon shows. He is the only child in the family. His dad is a tailor, employed at a local tailor shop. His father uses the little income to provide food for their family and pay rent. Kidus was born with a congenital anomaly called bladder exstrophy and he underwent surgery at BethanyKids with Watsi's support in 2021 to heal this condition. He was also born with a congenital anomaly called epispadias and has an inguinal hernia. Now he is scheduled for epispadias and right inguinal hernia repair. Epispadias impacts his ability to urinate and puts him at risk of future complications. Kidus is now much more playful than beforeand his family can see how intelligent he is. His family also shared how very much better psychologically they feel after his first treatment. But they are still worried about his urinary condition. He is now scheduled for the two surgeries that will take place simultaneously, and his family needs financial support. Kidus' father said, “Kidus means the world to me. To see him completely well will bring me so much joy. I want him to have a great personality with a kind heart; just like the amazing people helping him recover and become healthy. I really hope that he becomes a doctor in the future and helps those who are in need.”

$1,040raised
Fully funded

Stephen is a young man from Kenya. He is the firstborn in a family of 3 children. Their family has relied on their mother to provide for them as his father passed away when he was young boy. His mother does deliveries for different shop owners around their town. Stephen had to drop out from college do to inability to pay his school fees, and he now helps around the house and helps his mother with the deliveries, which is the how the family makes ends meet. Stephen has been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain and increases intracranial pressure. As a result of his condition, Stephen has been experiencing severe headaches since this past July. He visited a hospital where a CT scan was done that revealed that he had a cyst that was obstructing the normal flow of fluid in and out of the head. An urgent surgery was recommended to remove the cyst, but he did not undergo it due to not having the funds for the procedure. A shunt insertion surgery has been recommended along with a craniotomy that will be performed later to remove the cyst. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $720 to cover the cost of surgery for Stephen that will treat his hydrocephalus. The procedure is scheduled to take place on November 23rd and will drain the excess fluid from Stephen's brain. This will reduce intracranial pressure and greatly improve his quality of life. With proper treatment, Stephen will hopefully continue to develop into a strong, healthy man. Stephen says, “I really want to be treated so that I can help my mom provide for us.”

$720raised
Fully funded