Big Smiles All Around
Drum English|July 20, 2017

A 15-month-old boy gets a new lease on life after successful facial surgery

- Siyabonga Kamnqa
Big Smiles All Around

IT TOOK a chance meeting on a busy street in Lagos, Nigeria, to change the life of a little boy.

Nancy Ikeokwu (29) was walking with her son, Somto, when a woman approached her with information that sounded like the answer to her prayers.

Her child was also born with the condition that afflicted Nancy’s 15-month old son, Joy Bassey (36) told her.

But there was a chance Somto could be helped: her daughter, Akikere-Abasi (8), had had surgery in 2015 sponsored by the World Craniofacial Foundation (WCF) and had been given a new lease on life.

What’s more, the surgery had been done by one of Africa’s finest reconstruction surgeons: Professor Frank Graewe, one of the doctors who gained international fame in 2014 when he performed the world’s first successful penile transplant on a man who’d lost his penis after a botched circumcision.

Akikere-Abasi was well on her way to looking like a “normal” child, Joy told Nancy then gave her the contact details for the WCF. Maybe they could help her too, she told the upset mom.

They could – and they did. Barely a month after Nancy contacted the foundation she was told she and her little boy would be flown to Cape Town for surgery.

“I couldn’t believe my ears,” Nancy says. “I screamed at the top of my voice, ‘Oh God, you are an amazing God’.”

WE MEET the little boy, his relieved mom and Professor Graewe at Cape Town’s Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt Hospital after his successful surgery.

Somto is in high spirits, jumping on his bed and laughing with his mom, clearly not bothered by the brace attached to his head.

この蚘事は Drum English の July 20, 2017 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Drum English の July 20, 2017 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

DRUM ENGLISHのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
Homegrown Heroes
Drum English

Homegrown Heroes

Drum speaks to two volunteers in the Covid-19 vaccine trial and the professor heading the team in Africa

time-read
5 分  |
9 July 2020
The Big Clean Up
Drum English

The Big Clean Up

Whenever a Covid-19 case is confirmed at a shop, they call in the deep-cleaners. We find out exactly how they disinfect stores and supermarkets

time-read
5 分  |
9 July 2020
I'm Back & Better!
Drum English

I'm Back & Better!

Babes Wodumo shares what she’s been up to in lockdown – and there’s some new music on the horizon

time-read
5 分  |
9 July 2020
Not An Easy Ride
Drum English

Not An Easy Ride

Taxi commuters and industry players tell DRUM what’s driving them to defy lockdown rules

time-read
5 分  |
16 July 2020
Mam' Mary Bows Out
Drum English

Mam' Mary Bows Out

Iconic actress Mary Twala is fondly remembered by friends and family for her humour and talent

time-read
6 分  |
16 July 2020
‘They Lived For Each Other'
Drum English

‘They Lived For Each Other'

This Cape Town teen’s parents died from Covid-19 on the same day. Now she’s alone and battling the virus too

time-read
6 分  |
9 July 2020
Stranger Than Fiction
Drum English

Stranger Than Fiction

For actor Mangaliso Ngema and his daughter Khosi Ngema, her role in Blood & Water was like watching their family’s real-life story unfold

time-read
5 分  |
9 July 2020
I Was Raped By A Pastor
Drum English

I Was Raped By A Pastor

His accusations against a well-known man of the cloth turned an Eastern Cape man’s life into turmoil but now more victims have spoken out

time-read
5 分  |
16 July 2020
My Fight With Life And Death
Drum English

My Fight With Life And Death

More Covid-19 patients, too few beds and staff, constant sanitising and personal fears – a Western Cape doctor shares her experience

time-read
6 分  |
16 July 2020
I AM ENOUGH
Drum English

I AM ENOUGH

Ten years after being set alight, Thembi Maphanga is living life to the fullest

time-read
5 分  |
9 July 2020