Ratha is a 33-year-old car driver from Cambodia who lives with his wife and two children. In his free time, he enjoys spending time at home helping his wife with housework and looking after the children.
“Ratha fell down from a bicycle in 2000 and experienced right hip trauma,” reports our medical partner Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC). This dislocated his hip, and since then it has not properly healed.
At first Ratha tried to self-medicate. “He received pain killer injections at home,” CSC tells us. These types of at-home steroid pain killers are very common in rural Cambodia, where they do not require a prescription and adequate medical care is often inaccessible. Unfortunately, his condition has not improved.
“In the past couple years Ratha’s right hip pain has been getting worse,” says CSC, “it is very painful for him to walk.”
Doctors recently diagnosed Ratha with dysplasia of the right hip. This is an abnormal growth of cells, and he needs a hip replacement to remove the cell growth and fix his recurring hip dislocation and pain. For $430, doctors will remove the damaged parts of Ratha’s right hip, and replace them with artificial prosthetic pieces. He will also receive a few weeks of physiotherapy to ensure that he fully recovers, so then he will be able to return home to his family.
“I hope I can walk properly again after surgery,” Ratha shares. “When I am healed I will return home and continue to work again.”