When Healing Looks Different Than We Hoped
Last week, we shared the story of our Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) program—how we carefully screen premature babies for eye damage and, when intervention is needed, send them to Nairobi to receive surgery from the only surgeon in Kenya able to repair their retinas.
However, despite timely referrals and expert care, surgeries are not always successful.
ROP is a race against time. Babies cannot be screened until they are about 28 days old, and if damage has already progressed to the point of needing surgery, there is often only a one-week window to receive it.
Sheila is one mother who knows this heartbreak firsthand.
Her son, Leon, was born at just 27 weeks, weighing 2.2 pounds—a miracle survivor from the very beginning.
When Leon was screened, he qualified for urgent surgery.
Dr. Jack examines baby Leon in 2024, as his mother, Sheila, gently holds him.
We arranged for Sheila to travel to Nairobi—a city she had never visited—accompanied by one of our social workers. When they arrived, along with many other waiting families, they learned that the country’s only pediatric vitreoretinal surgeon was out of the country. By the time he returned two weeks later and saw Leon, the damage to Leon’s eyes had advanced beyond what surgery could repair.
Despite every effort by the medical team, Leon ultimately lost his vision.
Sheila travels to Nairobi by public transportation in 2024, carrying her newborn son, Leon, alongside our social worker, Dorcas.
Sheila holds Leon in front of her small stand in her village, where she earns a living selling small items like beans or soap.
Sheila comes Tot, a remote and less developed area in the valley, 2 hours away from Kapsowar. In her gratitude for all the hospital did to help her son, she brought sacks of mangos to the hospital staff to say thank you.
But in Kapsowar, we go one step further. Recognizing the challenges Sheila faces in caring for a blind son, a donor gave her capital to start a small fruit stand near her home, where she can get a small income and support her family.
She recently visited the hospital this year for a regular check up with Leon, and was full of gratitude.
Sheila returned recently for a checkup with Leon and saw Dr. Jack, who managed Leon’s care when he was born.
Leon, now at a year old.
In many parts of Kenya, children with disabilities are often stigmatized. Sheila defies that narrative — she is a proud, devoted mother who celebrates the beauty and worth of her son.
In a place where safety nets are few, not every story ends the way we pray it will. But whether the outcome includes restored vision or not, every premature baby who goes home in their mother’s arms is a miracle — and a life worth celebrating.