by Brenda van Straten | Aug 14, 2021 | Patient Stories
For 10 years, Lydienne’s world grew darker … and darker … Slowly losing her eyesight from cataracts felt like a lifelong prison sentence for the 65-year-old seamstress. The blindness stole her independence because she was forced to rely on family members to be her...
by Brenda van Straten | Aug 14, 2021 | Patient Stories
The first sight of 3-month-old Paul revealed a feather-light bundle cradled in his desperate mother’s arms. His skin was paper-thin and his body remarkably tiny. He weighed just over 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) – less than he had when he was first born. The tiny baby was...
by Brenda van Straten | Aug 12, 2021 | Patient Stories
Fanta has worked in the medical field for over 17 years, but she was afraid to have surgery herself to remove a 10-pound tumor under her right arm. For 10 years she hid the tumor under draped shawls while she worked. “How can I expect people to respect me as a nurse...
by Brenda van Straten | Aug 10, 2021 | Patient Stories
Ousman was excited to receive the call from his sister saying that his niece had finally been born. However, that excitement quickly turned into heartache once he learned that baby Aminata had been born with a cleft lip. When he heard the distress in his sister’s...
by Brenda van Straten | Aug 10, 2021 | Patient Stories
Amadou refused to be defined by the tumor that had been growing on his face for more than 15 years. To those in his community, 46-year-old Amadou is a doctor, a leader, and a pillar of hope. Medicine was a clear path for Amadou, who had been a practicing nurse for...
by Brenda van Straten | Jul 22, 2021 | Patient Stories
Operating a fleet of floating hospitals means managing a host of moving parts. From building relationships with other nations to staffing a crew of volunteer professionals – and, of course, serving our patients – you might say the work onboard a Mercy Ship requires a...
