Patient Abdi Bari is supported by his mother Yarey Abdi as he is airlifted from Mandera county to Nairobi for treatment, April 19, 2016. Photo/PATRICK VIDIJA
Five minutes past eight on Sunday. A
team of Amref Flying Doctors led by Dr Jill Selfridge and flight nurse Festus Njuguna leave Wilson Airport in Nairobi for Mandera county on a mission to rescue a young Kenyan in need of special medical attention.
About seven hours later, the team lands back at Wilson, their mission half accomplished.
They have airlifted 10-year-old Abdi Bari, who has a neck tumor, to Nairobi's Kenyatta National Referral Hospital for further treatment.
Bari is in the company of his mother Yarey Abdi and cousin Fatuma Ali who have a history of progressive anterior neck swelling.
Bari's swelling began as a small bump nine months ago.
He has been in and out of hospital since then, therefore unable to ago to school due to severe pain.
The boy is
a class four pupil at Abdibari’s School – Al-Rowdha in El-Wak subcounty.
He weighs about 15kgs.
Bari had been receiving treatment at Mandera district hospital for six months, but with little hope.
The hospital put him on TB treatment but there was no improvement. Unable to manage the condition, the hospital discharged him with a recommendation for more specialised treatment in Nairobi.
His parents appealed to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) for financial assistance. He will be treated at the KNH and the bill paid by the NHIF.
The hospital doctors had began carrying out tests before the surgery.
