“Stella was burnt when a kerosene lamp fell on her in August last year,” shares our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). “Her mother did not take her to a hospital and instead used traditional medicines to treat her burns. When a local pastor visited the home, he found Stella with the inner thighs joined by scar tissue. She could not pass urine.”
Stella is a 10-year-old girl from Kenya. She is the second born child in a family of five, and her mother works as a fruit vendor at their local market. Her father passed away, leaving Stella and her siblings in the care of their mother and grandfather.
As a result of her incident, Stella has burn contractures in her lower abdomen and upper thighs. She has difficulty walking and maintaining a straight posture. “If surgery is not done, Stella is likely to develop back problems due to the constant bended posture she is in,” says AMHF.
For $1125, AMHF will perform a contracture release surgery that will subdue tension in Stella’s pelvic region and help it properly heal. Stella has already undergone a first surgery funded by a local church that released her thighs, however, her family is not able to raise the additional funds needed for this treatment.
Stella shares: “I want to be a doctor when I finish school so that I can help the people in my village to receive care.”
