...All he asked for was a balloon...

He had a small sore on his leg, just a scratch, a mere nick in the skin. Had he lived in the Western world he would have just ran to his mother and the two of them would have headed to the bathroom sink to wash off the blood and apply a Snoopy band-aid. The sore would have healed within days…



Instead, he lived in Africa… The pinpoint sized cut didn’t heal; it got infected and increased in size. Unsure what to do about the infection growing in their son’s leg; his parents took him to the local traditional healer-witch doctor. The witch doctor poured a boiling liquid on the little boy’s fragile, infected skin. Now, on top of infection, the little boy had deep burns to his right leg that eventually healed, but healed but with the skin in a contracted form. The burns disfigured the little boy’s right leg, making it impossible to run, play, or walk without crutches; a small, innocent abrasion, changing forever the hopes and dreams of a little Sierra Leonean boy.


That little boy made it to the Mercy Ship. He underwent two surgeries last week to clean up one of the chronic infections that he has dealt with in his leg every since the original scratch showed up. On his third surgery, the skilled plastic surgeon’s gently released the contracted skin that had been holding his leg hostage, in a locked position; they grafted healthy skin to cover up the skin that he had lost.


Such a brave little boy, three surgeries in one week! Anyone else undergoing the type of surgery he had would have been in intense pain requiring a narcotic drip or pain pump, he barely made a peep, his pain controlled with mere Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and an occasional tablet of Codeine. He sat contently in his corner bed coloring pictures of African animals. Who would have known that cheetahs and frogs are actually 12 different colors? He was so polite and would laugh and laugh as his crazy nurses danced around the ward during ward worship time.


After surgery he got a fever, but it was less than 24 hours post-operatively, too soon for a surgical infection, could this little boy who had been through so much already, have malaria as well? The lab smear-viewed and partially diagnosed by myself, declared he indeed had malaria. Anti-malaria treatment started, but the fevers didn’t subside. A few days later vomiting, diarrhea, and massive bleeding from his right leg started. Emergently, we rushed him back to surgery; our plastic surgeon and general surgeon worked for hours attempting a vascular surgery- a venous graft from his left leg to where an arterial bleed had started in his right leg. The rest of our general surgical cases had to be cancelled for that day.


While the surgeons began another hour of surgery on our little patient from the corner bed, I gathered the nurses on the ward once again to pray for the surgeons, the little boy’s family, our little Sierra Leonean patient, and for all the patients whose surgeries had to be put on hold because of the emergency. We remembered how in history, Jesus had cured a woman who had been bleeding for years, of course, God could cure our patient that had been bleeding for a few hours. God carried our little man through surgery. His bleeding stopped; we gave him a few units of blood, one from the very anesthetist that managed his respiratory and fluid balance status while his fragile body was asleep. We cared for him in the ICU and prayed fervently that his leg would be okay, that blood flow would be sustained, and that he would heal quickly. Our little Sierra Leonean patient woke up from the grueling surgery, smiled, and all he asked for was a balloon.


A few days have passed since our little patient’s miracle surgery, but he isn’t doing well. His leg has lost blood supply and in a matter of minutes he will be returning to surgery for an above the knee amputation of his right leg.  He didn't ask for any of this...He didn't ask for infection, He didn't ask for burns, He didn't ask for malaria, He didn't ask for surgical complications....All he asked for was a balloon...And all I ask of you... on his behalf... is that you pray....