Chimwemwe is a sweet 14-year-old girl who has battled a bone infection in her right tibia for almost three years. In 2010, she was playing netball with her friends and collided with a defender. Her ankle swelled but she did not seek treatment for her injury.
Almost a year later, chronic osteomyelitis (a bone infection that weakens and slowly eats bone away) set in. Doctors removed fragments of the lower tibia, but it didn’t fully heal before the infection attacked the bone again. Now, nearly three years after the original accident, Chimwemwe still feels the effects of her injury. If left untreated, Chimwemwe’s doctors say the condition could permanently prevent her from being able to walk.
Surgeons at CURE believe that by removing a section of Chimwemwe’s tibia, they can allow the infection to heal and enable Chimwemwe to live a normal life.