12 Sep Police Officer Sahr is pain-free
The Global Mercy has returned to Sierra Leone for an extended time. 32-year-old police officer, Sahr, received the first surgery on board.
In the UK, a hernia removal is a routine operation. According to the NHS, patients should receive treatment within 18 weeks.
But in sub-Saharan Africa, it’s a very different story.
Sahr first noticed a small lump appear on his lower stomach when he was 20. It looked like a boil. Sometimes it was there and other times he couldn’t see it.
Gradually the lump grew, becoming larger and more painful.
“I was always complaining of sickness,” says Sahr.
Despite living daily with pain, Sahr was nervous about medical interventions and refused to visit any hospital for treatment – he had seen community members struggle with post-operative complications before.
Instead, Sahr relied on pain relief medications, as well as a herbal mixture locally called ‘gbangba,’ for temporary relief.
Then one day, his hope for safe surgery came alive when he learned about the return of the Global Mercy while on duty at his police station. He decided to register with the Mercy Ships patient selection team.
Life-threatening hernia
“Hernias are a hole in your abdominal wall, and some of your organs can be forced through that hole and that hurts,” explains Dr Timothy Burandt, the Mercy Ships volunteer general surgeon who operated on Sahr. “It also can interrupt the digestive system because those organs carry food and fluid through your body,
“The hernias that we see in Africa tend to be larger and more complex because patients don’t have an opportunity to seek care and see doctors earlier on.”
He further explained that hernias can be very debilitating “and cause pain problems and inability to walk or work.”
Dr Burandt explained that without the surgery, “Ultimately, this would get larger and more painful. It would get large enough and a piece of bowel would come through there, potentially twist on itself, strangle, and he could die from that.”
Safe surgery at last
When Sahr walked up the Global Mercy gangway on 3rd September 2024, he didn’t imagine becoming the first patient of this healthcare service in Sierra Leone.
Before his surgery, Sahr shared the relief he felt at receiving long-awaited medical care on board. “ I don’t have money to remove it from me. I’m feeling proud and so blessed. I am very happy because I know I am in safe hands.”
Thanks to safe surgery, Sahr’s hope of a better life, devoid of pain, was ignited after about an hour in the operating theatre on board. He is now able to take care of his wife and four-month-old son without pain and continue his job as a police officer.
Sahr’s successful surgery is only the first of more than 1,400 surgeries expected to take place on board the Global Mercy during the 2024-2025 healthcare service in Sierra Leone.
A united effort
It took a whole community effort on board to prepare for patients, so on the day of Sahr’s surgery there was growing excitement among the crew across the ship.
Watch this beautiful film, showing everyone from the surgeon to the students in the academy, who play their part in making safe surgery possible.