More than a clubfoot: A family with great strength under difficult circumstance

Today, a seven month old baby is receiving surgery for his clubfoot.  The story of his family is extraordinary.  There have been tears shared at the Tierra Nueva Hospital over the circumstance of this child's family.

Below is a picture of the translator Miha from the Cotapaxi School holding little Brandon.  We decided we cannot show you mother.  As you read on you will understand.

Brandon is a beautiful baby with one clubfoot.  He has no idea what his older sibs and his parents have experienced.

Here you can see that clubfoot.  It was casted at another hospital with one cast each 8 days for 12 consecutive castings.  But the foot has not straightened.

Here is Fern Cannon, our Ecuadorean cultural connection and a member of CAMTA since it's inception.  She collected the story from the mother.  She's carrying Brandon to the operating room.

In the operating room, Anesthesiologist Teresa Eliasson places a caudal block for post-operative comfort into Brandon.  Anesthesia Technician Glenn Day monitors the anesthesia and respirations.

Here's the monitor of hemoglobin and oxygen saturation from Masimo.

Brandon has four older sibs.  The parents and the first two children lived in Colombia and are now refugees in Ecuador. The last three children have been born in Ecuador since they became refugees here just over two years ago.  They operated a farm in Colombia and the FARC guerillas demanded payment of $250 per week.  The family and the other partner in the farm paid the extortion monthly for two years until they couldn't afford to pay it.  The guerilla's killed the business partner and stated they would kill the entire family if payment wasn't made the next day.

Brandon under anesthesia for his clubfoot surgery.

The family abandoned their property, their house, their car and took only two plastic bags of clothing.  They took a taxi to the border with Ecuador and asked for refugee status.

L to R: Drs. Tim Carey, Scott Wiens.  Nurse Donna Brown in background with Dr. Marc Moreau

They were admitted to a refugee camp but there wasn't enough food for the whole family so the parent's gave their food to the children.  One parent went without food each day.

L to R:  Donna Brown, Marc Moreau, Scott Wiens, resident in orthopedics, Tim Carey, pediatric orthopod, Jaime McInnis

Here's the instruments used in Brandon's surgery.

Now the family live in Quito Sur and the children stay in the one room apartment with no kitchen or bathroom while the parents work on the street selling cookies and candies. In the bedroom there is Katherine who is 10, Valeria who is 8, Joanide who is 4 and Michael, age 3 and Brandon who is 7 months.  The children are receiving only what education the mother has time for in the evenings: reading, writing and basic math.  They have seen guerillas they recognize on motorbikes in Quito and thus they fear for the lives of their children.  For this reason the children never, NEVER leave the building in which they live.  The father knows faces and names of terrible people in Colombia.

Thanks for reading.

John