Ra is a bright and cheerful eight-year-old. His parents are divorced and married to other partners, so he resides in Phnom Penh province under the same roof with his grandmother, two aunts, and a younger brother. Ra is in grade two at the public school, where his favorite subject is mathematics. At home, he likes to play with toys with his younger brother but dreams of being able to run and play with his friends. His favorite meal is fried meat, a dish skillfully prepared by his grandmother’s loving hands.
It is unknown how he developed quadriceps fibrosis in his left leg, which is a progressive loss of knee flexion due to fibrosis within the muscle developed in early childhood. His grandmother said he had treatment when he was one year old at a pediatric hospital. His condition makes walking very difficult and painful when he tries to flex his leg. Despite his desire to run and jump like other little boys, he is often left alone because he cannot keep up with others.
When Ra’s family learned about our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC), he and his grandmother traveled there to seek treatment. On December 12th, surgeons at CSC will perform a quadricepsplasty procedure to improve his knee flexion and help him walk normally. Now, Ra’s family needs help to fund this $482 procedure.
His grandmother said: “My heart breaks when I see Ra try to keep up with other children. I hope he can walk soon after his operation and have a good childhood.”
