“It is a miracle to have our son alive with us today,” shares Jonathan’s father. Jonathan is a friendly six-year-old boy from Tanzania who just began school! “Jonathan likes to play with cars and whenever he sees a hammer, he lives to hit pieces of wood with it,” our medical partner, African Medical Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), tells us.
“When he was nine months old, he crawled all the way from the living room to the kitchen and found a pot of boiling water on a small kerosene stove,” AMHF continues. “Not knowing that the water was hot, he put his hand in the pot. As he quickly removed his hand out of the hot water, the pot tilted and fell pouring the hot water on his face and other parts of his body.” After much medical care, the wounds have healed but he developed a contracture on his left thumb, which “makes it difficult for him to fully use his left hand.”
Jonathan’s father is a carpenter and his mother grows some green bananas and maize on a small piece of land outside their house, using the produce mainly for food but sometimes selling excess at the local market. According to AMHF, “Their income is not enough to cover the cost of the operation which Jonathan needs.”
Without treatment, Jonathan will never have full function of his hand and he may experience some pain due to the backward pulling of the thumb. “He is doing well despite the scars which bother him sometimes, especially the one on his face. What we mostly wish is for him to have the ability to properly use his left hand,” shares Jonathan’s father.
Together we can support them by covering the cost of the $550 single contracture release treatment Jonathan needs! “Jonathan will have a more functional hand and will also have a reduced risk of developing pain on his arm later on due to the pulling effect of the thumb,” explains AMHF.
