“Eric is shy,” shares our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). “He likes to play with mud - building some houses and shapes of people and other things.”
This is Eric, an adorable, three-year-old boy from Tanzania.
“Eric is the only child to his mother, who is a single parent. She loves her son very much and works very hard to take good care of him,” continues AMHF. “She sells some vegetables and fruits at an open market in their village. The little that she earns is not enough to cover the cost of operation which her son needs.”
Eric has bilateral genu valgus, a condition in which the knees angle inward and touch one another when the legs are straightened. “Eric is unable to walk without knocking his knees. It is difficult for him to run or walk fast and compete with other children when playing,” reports AMHF. “If not treated, Eric’s gait will continue to be affected and chances of developing osteoarthritis at an early age will increase.”
Eric’s mother remarks, “I am worried that my son may fail to walk later on if the condition keeps getting worse.”
With $940 in funding, Eric will undergo a combination of casting and surgery that will realign his knee joint and thighbone, straightening his legs. This cost includes the procedure, hospital stay, cast change, medication, labs, outpatient physiotherapy, and a stay at the Plaster House (a recovery center for kids). “Eric’s gait will improve, he will be able to walk without knocking his knees, and chances of developing osteoarthritis will also decrease,” explains AMHF.
“I dream of seeing him as a successful, influential young man in the future,” Eric’s mother shares. “I want him to live a better life than mine.”