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One Bullet Story 1: Nairobi, Kenya
Authors: Dr.
Walter Odhiambo, Prof. Symon Guthua, and Paul Saoke, IPPNW Kenya
We
present the story of a
17-year old Congolese boy referred to Nairobi University
Hospital
for surgical
treatment and management of a gunshot
injury to the face …
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The
son of a diamond
prospector, he was suspected to have diamonds by rebel soldiers, who
shot him
in the face in anger after they failed to get any from him. |
He
was fortunate to receive
first aid treatment, but had to travel to Nairobi
for proper medical care - a journey of 300 km through Uganda by road!
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It
took him over one year to
raise the money from family and friends for travel and treatment. |
| During
this period he kept
his mouth, which was disfigured by the bullet, covered with a
handkerchief in
public. His mandible
and
maxillary bones were shattered by the
bullet. |
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An
implant was required to
replace the lost jaw fragment. Dr.
Odhiambo and his colleagues spent 9 hours in the operating theater.
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A stainless
steel bone plate
needed to be inserted into the mandible.
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After
9 hours of surgery, the initial damage of the bullet had been repaired
- at least the physical damage...
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Five
days after surgery, the optical result was this.
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Total costs of one
bullet:
Travel
expenses from injury site in Congo
Pre-admission hotel expenses
Surgeon
and nurses
9
Hours of theatre time
9 Hours of theatre drugs
Reconstruction plate
Post-operative care
=$6,000
+ psychological & social costs…like post-traumatic
stress disorder
---
$6,000 = 1
bullet Injury
or...
...One year of
primary
education for 100 children in Kenya
...Full
immunizations
for 250 Kenyan children
...1.5
years
education for a medical student in Kenya
...10
years of daily Ugali meal for an average Kenyan family of six
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- Patamule
Lampanya – The
boy who traveled all the way from DR Congo to Nairobi in pursuit of
surgical reconstruction after gunshot to the face and whose story
inspired the first One Bullet Story, for consenting to the use of his
pictures and story in this campaign.
- University of Nairobi Maxillofacial Surgery department
and the hospital staff for providing the theatre facilities and
recovery ward for our patient.
- The Embassy
of Finland in Nairobi for sponsoring
the initial One Bullet Story campaign in Kenya.
- IPPNW
Central office
(Aiming for Prevention) for refining and adopting the OBS as its
official small arms campaign tool.
- Canadian
office of
foreign affairs
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