Fitia

I remember when we first started working with Mercy Ships.  Some of the pictures were so hard for me to look at.  These were people with diseases and conditions that weren't found in my world and they hurt in my in-most being to see.  Fast forward.  Now I've played with and visited and loved these people who are no longer pictures and what they have - that's life where they live and I praise God for a ship that comes and makes a difference.  

I write that to warn you - Fitia's initial pictures, reblogged from "Into the Deep" are hard for me to look at; the descriptions equally hard to read.  But praise God, He heals!

Fitia lets out a soft cry, reaching out for her mother’s hand as the pain around her chest and neck becomes more unbearable. Her parents do all they can to console their two-and-a-half year old daughter, who is lying lifeless on their bed. A soft hug, a stroke of her hair and whispers in her ear of how much they love her are all they can do. Over the last several weeks, Fitia’s parents have watched their daughter succumb to burns on her chest and neck, powerless to stop it and repeatedly blaming themselves for it.

Several weeks earlier, Fitia was as rambunctious as any normal two year old. Fitia loves people, exemplifying her Malagasy name, which means love. However, one afternoon, as her mother prepared a meal, Fitia’s rambunctious nature would lead to a tragic accident. In a split second, Fitia fell down on a pot of boiling soup, burning her chest, neck and face. In a developing country like Madagascar, where medical care is not easily accessible, Fitia’s parents tried everything they could afford – but it wasn’t enough. They were given a salted serum that made Fitia shriek in pain. Traditional healers sold them medicines that had no effect and finally suggested that Fitia’s parents spit into her wound each day. Three months later, Fitia was in agony and would not recover without specialized medical help.

Fitia’s mother prayed for a solution and at her moment of greatest despair she heard the answer to her prayers. Mercy Ships was visiting Mahajanga, a coastal city in northwestern Madagascar that was 200 kilometers away from their village. For months, Fitia’s family heard about the foreign medical workers from Mercy Ships that came in a hospital ship to Madagascar. They heard about the free miraculous surgeries taking place aboard the ship. Fitia’s mother knew that if anyone could help it would be Mercy Ships.

Courageously, Fitia’s mother made the journey to the hospital in Mahajanga where she was received by Screening Supervisor Mirjam Plomp. After listening to her story, Mirjam, who is a volunteer nurse from the Netherlands, determined Fitia’s case was complicated. Mercy Ships plastics program is normally focused on restoring functionality to individuals one year after a burn has taken place; Fitia’s burns were still very recent. There was the added hurdle that Fitia needed to be kept in an isolated sterile environment, which the ship was not accustomed to doing. Mirjam contacted the Africa Mercy to discuss Fitia’s case with hospital leaders and surgeons.

“It’s one of those cases that just breaks your heart. We have to say ‘no, we can’t help you’ to so many of the patients that come to us. But once in a while there is just this one, that catches your eye, and that you can’t send away.” For Mirjam (and the rest of the screening team), Fitia was that one.

The Mercy Ships screening team made arrangements to assess Fitia at her home. They arrived upon an overwhelming scene. They entered the home to find Fitia lying on a bed in the living room wearing only her shorts. It took less than a moment for the medically trained eyes to focus on the “monster” growing on Fitia’s chest. A thick green crusted mass covered most of Fitia’s burn wounds on her right upper chest and neck, the result of an infection breaking the skin down and forming a layer of dry skin and puss over the wound. Mirjam assessed the child’s condition. “At best, the prognosis was a burn contracture. At worst – sepsis and death.”

After working out a plan for a sterile environment, Mirjam received approval to bring Fitia and her mother to the ship. Knowing that Fitia needed immediate medical treatment, Mirjam enlisted the help of local partner Mission Aviation Fellowship. MAF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating, among many things, medical care for people who live in remote regions of Madagascar where the roads are non-existent. Pilot Josh Plett arranged for an immediate flight for the screening team as well as Fitia and her mother back to Toamasina. What would have taken days by an uncomfortable car ride on unpaved and broken roads took less than two hours by plane.

Fitia was placed in isolation on the ship to prevent the spread of infection not only to her but also and other patients. She underwent surgeries to clean the burn and was given a strong dose of antibiotics to fight the infection ravaging her body. Combined with good nutrition and the great love and care that Mercy Ships nurses are known for, Fitia’s mischievous personality very quickly came back to life.

In the months that followed, Fitia’s mother was been unable to express her gratitude to Mercy Ships and MAF for saving her daughter’s life. During the darkest moments she boldly prayed that she would be able to see Fitia grow up. It was a courageous prayer at a time when so many friends and family members said that the little girl would surely die. Thanks to the partnership between MAF and Mercy Ships, Fitia’s mother now has hope for the future that her daughter will pursue medicine and give back to others. Perhaps one day her daughter will have the same opportunity that Mirjam did where that one case touches her heart and she can save a life.

Mirjam shares that the Fitias of the world make her job the best in the world. “What a blessing to be able to work together with MAF to make these things possible.”