Update: little Yousef can walk

Encouraging news about a dangerously ill boy being treated at a BMS World Mission-supported hospital in Chad 

Severely malnourished and with TB of the spine, when Yousef turned up at Guinebor II Hospital (G2) in Chad he was dangerously close to death. He hadn’t walked for years and was so weak he couldn’t even sit up. He weighed just 6kg.

The team at G2, a BMS World Mission supported hospital, began treating Yousef’s malnutrition and building his strength. Then BMS nurse Rebecca North got to work helping Yousef reclaim his childhood.

Now, a fortnight after BMS first told his story, he is walking with a frame!

“I was bowled over two weeks ago when, at the start of the day, I walked onto the ward to see him cruising up and down the length of the bed!” says Rebecca. “My clapping and exclamations of joy were met by a rather uninterested stare from Yousef, but that was broken down into squeals of delight as we then had a tickling fight.”

Last time we spoke to Rebecca she was hopeful that, one day in the future, Yousef would be able to walk again. Now he can, and it’s absolutely amazing to see.

“I had not quite let myself believe that Yousef would one day walk again,” says Rebecca. “It just seemed too fantastical, having seen where he had come from. But, as always, Yousef had yet another surprise up his sleeve and each day last week he was found to be taking little walks around the ward with his frame.”

Yousef has surpassed all the expectations of Rebecca and the medical team at G2. He has come out of the critical stage of malnutrition, has begun to gain strength, and is using his legs – something he wasn’t able to do for much of his childhood. Now Yousef has been discharged from the hospital and is staying nearby with relatives so that he can continue his treatment and come in for regular check-ups.

The last thing Yousef did before he was discharged? He played a (tame) game of football with Rebecca! Another little miracle in a Christian hospital in Chad.
 

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This article first appeared on the website of BMS World Mission and is used with permission 

BMS World Mission, 05/03/2015