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Every journey came with pain

For more than five years, Mohamed drove his kekeh through Freetown while living with a painful hernia. With a wife and four children depending on him, stopping work wasn't an option.

Country Freetown, Sierra Leone
Age 40
Treatment General surgery

Video

Video

Meet Mohamed

Every day, Mohamed drives passengers through the busy streets of Freetown. But behind the wheel, he had been hiding a painful condition for more than five years.

As the hernia grew, driving became increasingly difficult. Yet as the sole provider for his wife and four children, Mohamed kept going.

It is incredibly painful. The only time I feel relief is when I stop and push it back inside.
Mohamed
  • For more than five years, Mohamed kept driving his kekeh through Freetown, even as every working day became increasingly painful.

For more than five years, Mohamed kept driving his kekeh through Freetown, even as every working day became increasingly painful.

Five years of pain ended in just over an hour

When the Global Mercy™ returned to Freetown, Mohamed found the courage to seek treatment.

He became the first surgical patient of the ship's third consecutive field service in Sierra Leone. His operation took just over an hour, repairing the hernia that had caused him years of pain.

For Mohamed, that short surgery meant something much bigger: the possibility of returning to work without pain.

  • Mohamed met the surgeon who would treat him, ready to leave behind a condition he had lived with for more than five years.

Mohamed met the surgeon who would treat him, ready to leave behind a condition he had lived with for more than five years.

Back behind the wheel, without the pain

Today, Mohamed can look at the road ahead differently. The work he once had to push through in pain can again be a way to support the people who depend on him.

One surgery didn't just treat his hernia. It helped him get back to providing for his family without pain defining every working day.

It allows Mohamed to return to work without pain.
Dr. John Zwiacher, volunteer surgeon

Help someone move forward without pain

For Mohamed, surgery meant more than treating a hernia. It meant relief after years of pain and the chance to keep working and providing for the people who depend on him.

Others are still living and working through conditions that could be treated if surgical care were within reach. Your gift can help make life-changing surgery possible, giving more people the chance to leave pain behind and move forward with their lives.

Help make the next story possible.

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