Senhor Alfanzo was riding his tiny motor bike in the city of Benguela when he was struck broadside by a truck. His right leg, hit full on, lay fractured with broken femur and tibia bones both protruding through the skin of his thigh and lower leg. A local healthcare facility applied a full leg cast, which nicely stabilized the fractures but also resulted in swelling within that threatened to entirely cut off circulation to his foot. After ten days and still no plan for repairing his fractures, Senhor Alfanzo insisted on transfer to CEML Hospital, where I first met him on Saturday morning.
Step one for us was to strategically cut open the cast, which SS skillfully accomplished, immediately restoring arterial blood flow to his extremity. Today our surgeons, Annelise Oleson and Ken Foster, evaluated Senhor Alfanzo for surgical repair of these horrendous injuries, and tomorrow he’ll proceed to the operating room.
Perspective is especially important. In the days before CEML, people with injuries like these would regularly die from bone infection leading to sepsis. Or, their broken extremities would simply be amputated. Senhor Alfanzo will fare much better.