Salfa
A Little Girl is Saved From the Grip of Deadly Disease
Salfa was a six year-old girl who had just started going to school. Even though she was a bit shy, Salfa was excited about attending and she enjoyed her classes.
But one day when she was at school, something wasn’t right. Without warning, Salfa suddenly fell to the ground. Her knee took a significant brunt of the fall, and soon began to swell. It didn’t take long before her knee became excessively painful.
The swelling and pain in her knee seemed disproportionate for Salfa’s injury, but grew so severe that she was taken to the nearby clinic in Dabi. There, Salfa was given medicine, but it did nothing to alleviate the swelling or excruciating pain.
Salfa began to cry all the time, and the swollen, painful knee left her unable to walk. After enduring this condition for a few weeks with no sign of improvement, Salfa’s grandmother took her to the nearest hospital. She spent a day at the facility, but the staff ultimately advised her grandmother to take Salfa to Mother of Mercy Hospital.
It was a lengthy journey, but Mother of Mercy Hospital was renowned for helping patients who didn’t find a cure anywhere else. Mother of Mercy is a mission hospital supported by Sudan Relief Fund, the only facility of its kind for hundreds of miles in the Nuba Mountains. Dr. Tom Catena, a local hero and the hospital’s director, serves diligently as the only on-staff surgeon.
After conducting a series of tests, Dr. Tom revealed that Salfa was suffering from tuberculosis, which had progressed to the point that the little girl was extremely weak. The TB had infected Salfa’s knee and was the reason she could no longer walk.
Dr. Tom immediately began giving Salfa medicine to treat the tuberculosis. Day after day, the little girl lay in her hospital bed, as her grandmother waited by her side and prayed to see any sign that her granddaughter might be turning a corner.
One morning, Salfa was able to sit up. By Day 20, the young girl could stand up and walk very slowly. After a month of treatment, she had progressed so much that she was nearly her normal self again. Salfa was on course to achieve a full recovery.
Salfa’s grandmother was exhausted and relieved, but energized at the joy of seeing her granddaughter’s healing. She overflowed with expressions of gratitude to Dr. Tom and the hospital staff.
“Thank you to Dr. Tom and those who work with him,” she said. “And also a big thank you to those who help this hospital.” Soon six year-old Salfa would be able to return home with her grandmother. Only this time she would walk on her own.
These stories of Lives Saved are possible because of your support to Dr. Tom and his team at Mother of Mercy Hospital. Thank you for helping to save children like Salfa from the deadly but curable sickness of tuberculosis.
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