His bones are growing, his skin is not
Sep 12, 2006
WACITTO willa dek†meaning lets go buy food (rice and beef), are the first words Ivance Opiyo will say to you when you appear friendly. Because everyone shuns him, he has to eat from rubbish bins or stay hungry. At times he goes without food for days. People think he is mentally ill.<br>
By Harriet Birungi
WACITTO willa dek†meaning lets go buy food (rice and beef), are the first words Ivance Opiyo will say to you when you appear friendly. Because everyone shuns him, he has to eat from rubbish bins or stay hungry. At times he goes without food for days. People think he is mentally ill.
At eight years, with his upper limbs attached to his chest, Opiyo is unable to do anything. The stigma of being branded “useless†by his own people and agemates has forced him to live a lonely and destitute life on the streets.
Opiyo was born normal on July 18, 1998. At three years, he got burnt when his mother accidentally pushed him into a pot of hot water as they fled from the Lord’s Resistance Army in Paicho, Aswa County in Gulu.
Zdenek Osecky of the surgery department at Gulu Independent Hospital says Opiyo sustained extensive deep burns on the body, interior thoracic regions, the shoulder region and limbs.
“Due to lack of resources, Opiyo did not get proper early treatment and a follow-up prevention of the contractures and massage of the scars. He thus developed severe scars, especially on the thoracic, shoulder and elbow regions on both sides,†explained Osecky.
Osecky says due to the contraction of the scars on the shoulder, thoracic regions and untimely skin grafting, the skin developed contractures. A contracture is an abnormal, often permanent shortening of scar tissue, that results in distortion or deformity, especially of a joint of the body.
That jointed skin is so inelastic that it cannot allow movement of limbs. The pain in attempted limb movement forces the person to start limiting body mobility and function (as a way of minimising pain). As a result, the limbs became stuck, causing disability.
Jeannette Quinn Smith, a doctor from America, who has been in Gulu for two months, has tried to bring a smile on Opiyo’s face. Quinn paid for one surgery which was done on Opiyo’s left arm. However, she says Opiyo needs a number of surgeries if he is to get better. His bones are growing yet the scar tissue that constitutes his skin cannot stretch further.
“He needs many surgeries till he is 18 years old. He is young and his bones are still growing. Between now and the time he becomes an adult, the surgeries needed will cost a minimum of $500,000 (sh925m) coupled with physiotherapy,†added Quinn. Physiotherapy is supposed to help Opiyo develop and strengthen his muscles.
Quinn says Opiyo will end up crippled if he does not receive at least eight surgeries. The growing bones will overstretch the little skin he has on the body, leaving him with shoulders bent inwards like a hunchback.
So far, there is some short-lived relief, Opio needs an ointment massage at least three times a day. But even that little therapy he cannot afford.
Despite the village stigma, trauma, parental neglect and allegations of insanity, Opiyo is full of life and says he wants to brave school even if children laugh at him.
“But he is not mad,†Quinn says. “He wishes he could get better and get accepted in society.â€
WACITTO willa dek†meaning lets go buy food (rice and beef), are the first words Ivance Opiyo will say to you when you appear friendly. Because everyone shuns him, he has to eat from rubbish bins or stay hungry. At times he goes without food for days. People think he is mentally ill.
At eight years, with his upper limbs attached to his chest, Opiyo is unable to do anything. The stigma of being branded “useless†by his own people and agemates has forced him to live a lonely and destitute life on the streets.
Opiyo was born normal on July 18, 1998. At three years, he got burnt when his mother accidentally pushed him into a pot of hot water as they fled from the Lord’s Resistance Army in Paicho, Aswa County in Gulu.
Zdenek Osecky of the surgery department at Gulu Independent Hospital says Opiyo sustained extensive deep burns on the body, interior thoracic regions, the shoulder region and limbs.
“Due to lack of resources, Opiyo did not get proper early treatment and a follow-up prevention of the contractures and massage of the scars. He thus developed severe scars, especially on the thoracic, shoulder and elbow regions on both sides,†explained Osecky.
Osecky says due to the contraction of the scars on the shoulder, thoracic regions and untimely skin grafting, the skin developed contractures. A contracture is an abnormal, often permanent shortening of scar tissue, that results in distortion or deformity, especially of a joint of the body.
That jointed skin is so inelastic that it cannot allow movement of limbs. The pain in attempted limb movement forces the person to start limiting body mobility and function (as a way of minimising pain). As a result, the limbs became stuck, causing disability.
Jeannette Quinn Smith, a doctor from America, who has been in Gulu for two months, has tried to bring a smile on Opiyo’s face. Quinn paid for one surgery which was done on Opiyo’s left arm. However, she says Opiyo needs a number of surgeries if he is to get better. His bones are growing yet the scar tissue that constitutes his skin cannot stretch further.
“He needs many surgeries till he is 18 years old. He is young and his bones are still growing. Between now and the time he becomes an adult, the surgeries needed will cost a minimum of $500,000 (sh925m) coupled with physiotherapy,†added Quinn. Physiotherapy is supposed to help Opiyo develop and strengthen his muscles.
Quinn says Opiyo will end up crippled if he does not receive at least eight surgeries. The growing bones will overstretch the little skin he has on the body, leaving him with shoulders bent inwards like a hunchback.
So far, there is some short-lived relief, Opio needs an ointment massage at least three times a day. But even that little therapy he cannot afford.
Despite the village stigma, trauma, parental neglect and allegations of insanity, Opiyo is full of life and says he wants to brave school even if children laugh at him.
“But he is not mad,†Quinn says. “He wishes he could get better and get accepted in society.â€