Remember Miriam? About a year ago, we had introduced you to the little girl. She was only three years of age then. But despite her tender age, she bore fathomless pain since birth. One eye was completely blind, and the other eye had a defect. This went with severe cleft lip and palate deformities. The non-cooperation and ill-treatment from the relatives and the community added to her pains. This aggravated the woes of her parents concerning her future.
Their uncertainty, however, was short-lived. Despite several challenges, Miriam’s mother remained mentally strong. She was determined to cure her child’s deformity. She learned about Mission Smile’s Guwahati Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre (GC4). Immediately she took her daughter there for treatment. But again, luck wasn’t on her side! Miriam was underweight, and hence at first, surgery was denied by the doctors. Instead, the little girl was put under the ‘nutrition program’ . She had to gain proper weight and nourishment. After that, only she could become eligible for surgery.
A couple of weeks later, she again showed symptoms of illness during the evaluation. For this, her surgery was postponed yet again. But the mother was resilient. She never gave up on her child and kept returning for check-ups. However, every time some issue or the other popped up. It hindered Miriam’s selection for surgery.
Miriam’s days of misery finally ended during her 18th visit to GC4 when on-going Difficult Cases Week. The Swedish doctors who came to volunteer selected her for surgery. As per their decision, Miriam’s surgery was divided into two phases. The first phase was completed during the Difficult Cases Week itself. The second phase of the surgery was done later last year, on 6th Sept 2018.
The first surgery itself corrected much of Miriam’s facial deformities. The second surgery restored her remaining deformity to a satisfying level. Seeing her post-facial reconstructive surgery, no one would say that she once had such an excessive deformation. Even the 4-year-old girl herself may never have thought such a miracle would happen for her. Her parents were teary-eyed with happiness. When they first saw their girl smiling like never before.
However, Miriam needed to undergo a third minor surgery to beautify her face in the next six months. Her parents planned on their daughter’s future once her final surgery was over. They want to make her a strong woman. She should give back to society through her knowledge and dedication.
Miriam was blessed with free surgery and found her life restored from darkness to sunshine. Yet, thousands in this country are victims of cleft deformities. They are awaiting helping hands to transform their future from cleft to smile. Help them. Donate Now