Ibrahima

 

One evening 22-year-old Ibrahima pulled his motorcycle over to help a woman on the side of the road. While moving a can of gasoline, he lost his grip and spilled the fuel down his clothes. A nearby cooking fire ignited his soaked clothing, and before Ibrahima could register what was happening, his clothes were in flames.  Strangers ran to help put out the fire from his body and rushed him to a local clinic, but the medical resources there were extremely limited. Ibrahima spent the next month lying curled up in bed, immobilized by the excruciating pain.

Over time and without proper wound care, Ibrahima's open wounds closed forming into ridged scars which left his legs locked and permanently bent at the knees.   No longer able to walk, Ibrahima went from a man able to work and help others, to someone who had to be carried everywhere he went.   "It makes me very sad ... I can't work.  I can't get money. So I just sit inside the house."      -Ibrahima

Activities of daily living were now impossible alone, and involved being lifted on his older brother's back to move about. The knowledge that his independence was gone broke Ibrahima's heart.  "I couldn't be with people the way I was before," Ibrahima said."Sometimes, I felt helpless, like I might really be this way forever." Ibrahima dreamed of being able to walk again, but the limited medical care available to him made surgery seem impossible.

Then, one day, hope arrived when a local doctor told him about a hospital ship coming to his home country. Before long, Ibrahima came to the Africa Mercy with tentative hopes that change might be in sight. It took the help of his brother and several Mercy Ships staff to bring Ibrahima up the gangway steps and onto the ship for his operation.

Ibrahima's rehab process was grueling and intense. For several months, he visited the ship several times a week for exercises that stretched his healing legs, strengthened his muscles, and improved his mobility. It was in this exertion that his resilience shone through — Ibrahima had his independence back. "I feel taller,' he said. "I was always sitting and seeing the world from a lower level. It felt like everyone was looking down on me." "Now, I see everything from high up!"    - Ibrahima

Now able to move freely and with a renewed ability to return to work and earn a living, Ibrahima feels like a new man. The surgery he received on the Africa Mercy has allowed him to see the world in a new way — a way full of hope.