“They Deserve More than Life Has Dealt Them”

The following post was written by UUSC President Charlie Clements. Clements writes from Kenya, where he is leading an emergency delegation to assess the political and humanitarian crisis that has engulfed the country in the wake of the flawed presidential elections of December 2007.

We visited a young man in the slum of Kibera who on January 9 was shot in the forehead by police as he rode on his motorbike-taxi. As he turned a corner, he was suddenly in the midst of a police chase. He was shot in the forehead. It is astounding that he is still alive. He was the only breadwinner in his family.

On his release from the hospital, he was told the doctors couldn’t do anything more for him. As we all crowded into the room and introductions were made, I told him I used to be a family physician and asked how he was doing. I assumed his young wife would answer, and I was dumbfounded when he explained in English that the doctors in the provincial hospital said they did all they could and he should go home. I looked at his x-ray and the bullet appears to be resting about where his pituitary gland would be. The hospital staff probably decided it would be more dangerous to attempt to remove it than to leave it in. There is a large, mostly healed hole about one-inch deep in his forehead. When he moved to point to the x-rays, I could see that he was hemipalegic (meaning, being totally or partially paralyzed on one side of the body) on the left side.

I asked if he had access to physical therapy, and he said no because they could not afford the $5 (300 Ks) cost per session. I asked if he was in pain or had other symptoms. He said he had some discomfort and that he was concerned that he still bled a little bit, mostly at night. I explained that this was probably a fistula and that it might take some time to close.

He and his wife both nodded vigorously when I said that I thought it was a miracle that he was alive and doing so well. I said that there was no way of knowing for certain, but in some cases, this kind of wound results in neurological damage similar to a stroke. Some stroke patients recover function as their brains reestablish different nerve pathways, but this recovery is almost always attributable to regular physical therapy. I told him we would leave sufficient funds with his church so that he would have 3 physical rehabilitation sessions a week at the provincial hospital for 4 months (50 visits), with travel by taxi included.

This young couple has already displayed such tenacity and courage; they deserve more than life has dealt them. Maybe this will be the start of another miracle for them.

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