Meet Abdi, a 36-year-old man from Kenya who is married with five children. “Abdi has a few heads of goats, sheep and cows that enable him to support his family. His wife stays at home taking care of the children while Abdi herds,” shares our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF).
“Abdi was chopping firewood five years ago when he accidentally cut his right ankle,” AMHF continues. “He did not think much of the wound and after some home treatment, Abdi did not seek medical care.” He has since developed a septic wound that has not healed.
AMHF explains to us that “he was referred to the hospital and after assessment, he was informed that he would need a local wide excision of the wound followed by a skin graft.” If Abdi does not have the surgery soon, the infection could get worse and result in an amputation.
$940 will fund the debridement and skin graft he needs in order to avoid further damage to his ankle. A debridement is a surgical procedure that involves removing infected tissue from the wound site. Afterwards, a skin graft is performed in order to transplant healthy skin from another area of Abdi’s body to his ankle. Although Abdi has not been able to raise the full treatment cost, $175 has been contributed by his family and friends.
AMHF expects that after surgery, “Abdi’s foot will be saved and he will be able to continue herding and taking care of his family.”
Abdi says, “I did not think that this would cost me my leg. I am very happy that I followed my friend’s advice and come to the hospital before it was too late.”
