| July 2015 -
Case History - Ssenuni Mathias |
| Ssenuni Mathias
is a 4 year old boy from the small village of Kyawanyana in the
district of Rakai in western Uganda. He lives with his parents
who are farmers and he has two other siblings. He was admitted
in ACHERU on 17th March 2015 with a wound on the right leg,
which was discharging fluid on various sites. Over the course of
8 months, they sought medical attention in different places but
to no avail. |
 |
Mathias
before treatment
|
| Upon assessment
at Acheru his family reported that Mathias’ wound started
as a small swelling and within a period of three days he was in
a lot of pain. Initially they did not take it seriously but
after a week the leg started swelling and the boy could not
walk. The upsetting thing for the family is that people in the
community started saying that he was bewitched and they
discouraged them from taking him to hospital. In the village
people believe that if someone suffering from that disease which
they call “Ettalo” is taken to hospital and gets
treated, then that person passes it on. The family were too
fearful to continue to seek proper treatment for Mathias.
Instead they resorted to using local herbs, smearing them on his
wounds and making him drink them. However, after 3 months the
state of the wound deteriorated significantly and he was in
considerable pain. Obviously osteomyelitis had set in. Despite
this, the family still treated him with local herbs and
painkillers. Many people told them to take him to the hospital,
yet by this stage the family were so fearful that he may end up
having his leg amputated. |
| Eventually the
family heard about the work of Acheru, they were able to see
photographs of children who had been healed and after some
convincing, they were happy to visit Acheru and see for
themselves children with similar conditions to Mathias which
made them happy for him to be treated there. |
| Following
treatment his mother stated, “I am so happy to see that
my son is doing better, the whole community and my family
thought the leg were to be cut off but right now he is fine. The
wounds healed and we are going to be discharged home, I know
many people do not believe that the leg is not cut off but they
are going to be surprised to see it with their own eyes when we
go home. Thanks be to God!” |
 |
Mathias
after treatment
|
