Mother Who Travelled 1,000Km for Son's Lifesaving Surgery

For any new mother, giving birth to a healthy baby is a huge relief, and so it was for Naima Abdi Isaac.

However, her relief was short-lived as she noticed her ninth-born child, Dakane Mustaab, was developing a growth on his head.

Ms Isaac, who lives in Mandera County, was unable to get medical treatment for Mustaab due to a lack of facilities and personnel in the region.

"I feared he would never talk, walk or go through the normal development stages of a baby," she said during her son's discharge from Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi on Monday.

She is now relaxed and optimistic that Mustaab will grow up normally.

The family received help after Mustaab's plight reached media personality Julie Gichuru earlier this year.

"Ms Gichuru came to us with Mustaab's story and we thought we should help," said Susan Ng'ong'a, the managing director of Emergency Plus Medical Services (ePlus).

Together with African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref), Isaac and her son were flown more than 1,000km to Nairobi for surgery to remove the growth.

According to Amref Chief Executive Joseph Lelo, airlifting Isaac and Mustaab cost about Sh1 million.

On March 20, Mustaab was admitted at KNH. Two days later, he had an operation to assess the growth.

Doctors Susane Nabulindo and Muthoni Ntonjira said the growth was non-tumorous and non-cancerous.

The doctors said there were no complications during the surgery that lasted 12 hours.

According to KNH and ePlus, who paid Mustaab's bill, the entire treatment cost more than Sh2 million.

"Only KNH or Moi Referral Hospital could have handled the case. It was a unique case that could not have been handled in most public hospitals," said Peter Masinde, the acting director of clinical