Holy Family Surgery Center Medical Charity

Angela

 

 

The little girl who started a dream…

Angela is a very special girl. From the day she arrived at NPH Honduras, she impressed us with her positive attitude and constant smile in spite of her condition. We were also concerned how the other children would react to Angela’s condition.

Some of our almost 500 orphaned and abandoned children at our NPH Honduras home “Rancho Santa Fe” like to tease children with any kind of defect. Most of our children have suffered severe abuse and neglect before arriving at our home and as the saying goes: “Those who’ve been hurt will lash out” holds true for some of our children. Well, Angela had to absorb her brunt of teasing. But she did what she always does, smile. And when the teasing doesn’t have the desired effect, children will let up and move on.

As Angela grew, her condition worsened. The angle of her knees became more pronounced and the pressure on the knees increased to the point that our doctor told Angela that she had to use a wheelchair for longer distances and could not participate in physically straining activities such as soccer or dancing. I remember that this was one of the few moments I saw Angela cry. She had participated in a dance class and the group was just getting ready for a public performance when the doctor’s verdict came. Later we learned that Angela could have participated without any risk to her knees.

Before Angela arrived at NPH Honduras, she had suffered the loss first of her dad and then, four years later, of her mother. They always had lived in extreme poverty. The mother worked hard in washing and ironing clothing which barely provided to pay for the rent of a small room for the whole family and a little food every day. On her deathbed the mother asked a neighbor to take care of the older sister, Cynthia, and left Angela and her little brother Cristian with an 18 year old brother. The older brother lived off selling trash which required him to be on the move constantly. In the end, neither the neighbor nor the older brother could provide for the children and they sought assistance with the local authorities. Finding the children in squalid conditions, the authorities immediately moved the children to a government home for temporary shelter and later informed NPH about Cynthia, Angela and Cristian.

As soon as Angela arrived at NPH, we took Angela to the local university hospital to find out what could be done about her condition. Not once did we receive a diagnosis, the hospital staff lost her file three times and appointments were far apart that we eventually decided to look for help elsewhere. At this point, an orthopedic medical brigade performed surgeries at another local hospital. The looked at Angela and scheduled her for surgery. We took Angela to the hospital where she spent the night to be ready for surgery the next day. The day of her surgery, the nurses decided to go on strike and the doctors cancelled the surgery. By the time the strike was over, the doctors of the medical brigade had returned to the US.

In early May of 2003, Peter and LuLu Daly and their four children visited our home in Honduras. Dr. Daly, an orthopedic surgeon evaluated Angela and decided to perform the surgery in a small mobile surgical unit, NPH runs with the help of local doctors for simplified surgery. The evening before the surgery, Peter decided to contact Dr. Dahl in Minnesota to get his opinion. Dr. Dahl knew immediately what Peter was talking about because Dr. Dahl had performed surgery on other children from Honduras with the same condition before.

The fact that Angela’s journey took her to NPH. That the local hospitals lost her file. That on the day of her first planned surgery, which would have done nothing to improve her condition the nurses went on strike. The fact, that Dr. Daly and his family visited NPH and met Angela. The fact that Dr. Daly knew Dr. Dahl, a physician highly trained in a specialty procedure which is rare even in the US. Probably the biggest miracle of all, that on that night when Peter called Dr. Dahl, our phone lines here were working (75% of the time they don’t function), that Peter actually caught Dr. Dahl through his secretary on the phone. That the Daly family also offered to be the host family. We could not have hoped for a better prepared and more generous host family than the Daly family with Peter being an orthopedic surgeon and LuLu Daly being a registered nurse, not speak of their loving care for Angela and Marta. Until five days to the planned departure, we still missed some papers required for the visa, but we even got those finally just in time.

The generosity of the hospital and its staff where Angela received all services and materials free of charge. And that this very complicated surgery has been so successful up to this time. In any surgery, there are always risks involved.

The other day I read, that “when we humans go out of our way to do everything possible then God will provide for the impossible, and that’s called a miracle.”

Throughout all of this, Angela’s optimism, sense of hope and love of life have inspired us all. Always ready to give a big hug, to tackle difficult tasks, she was the source for us to do everything possible and impossible to fulfill her dream: To run, play, swim, and dance like everybody else.

 

 

Reinhart Koehler

Director of Family Services NPH International