Zelen performed the first of two surgeries to repair Anderson's feet
in April, and the procedure hasn't just changed his walk, but his
personality.
Since his arrival in Roanoke, Anderson has also shot up, growing about 6
inches and gaining approximately 30 pounds. Zelen said the teen was malnourished
in Africa and his growth plates were open, so once he came here and began eating
three meals a day he grew.
The teen, who months ago may have shied away from conversation, now talks
excitedly, albeit still softly, about his future. After he returns to Zambia in
November, he hopes to finish school and then become a lawyer.
It's a future that's wide open to him now, said Roanoke nurse Karen ReMine,
who is cofounder of Roanoke Countybased Orphan Medical Network International,
which fostered Anderson's medical visa.
"His personality has changed because he was dealing with his feet," ReMine
said. "It's a total difference from someone who would stay secluded in his
room."
ReMine's group rarely brings children inside the country for a medical
procedure. In fact, it's only been done one other time and that was for ReMine's
now adopted son, who is also from Zambia and needed a clubfoot correction.
Her organization learned Anderson from Seeds of Hope, an organization that offers aid
to people in Niger, in west Africa. She approached Zelen, who donated his
services. LewisGale Medical Center is contributing more than $100,000 in charity
care.
ReMine said Anderson just needed someone to advocate for him. She was spurred
to action when she found out he could lose his legs.
"It can't happen to a boy that bright and deserving of a chance at life," she
said. ReMine said in Anderson's own country his story is becoming well known.
She said the ministry of health and the former first lady know about his
story,
"It's just for me exciting many people know about me," Anderson said, adding
he looks forward to returning to school.
Just attending classes posed a problem for him before because sometimes he
was in too much pain to attend at all or was in discomfort.
"I think it will be more easier for me to study hard," he said. "I wasn't
able to move in class."
But before he can return home, Anderson will have a second surgery, on Aug. 31, to
correct his right foot. He said he's not nervous and is "looking forward to
it."
The first surgery to repair his left foot took six hours and required 15 cuts
into bone. Surgeons used 20 metal implants to shorten and straighten the bones
that were so deformed Anderson could barely walk on them.
His feet are so large that the screws surgeons typically reserve for ankle
fractures were used to fuse his toes. Zelen said the largest implant available
for toes, typically used for a big toe, was only able to fit into Anderson's
fifth toe.
His feet before surgery were a size 17 in length and EEEEE in width.
Afterward, both will be about size 13.
Anderson spent four nights in the hospital recovering, and his foot was in a
cotton splint for two weeks. After that he wore a cast for six weeks.
But on a recent day, most signs of that onerous recovery were gone.
Standing in an exam room just after a shoe fitting, Anderson looked the part of a typical
teenager. He smiled, talked about his favorite American foods (cheeseburgers and
fries) and his newfound affection for bike riding. He wore jeans, a button down
black shirt and shoes, which for many years was unfathomable.
His black laceup sneakers, Nike on the left and New Balance on the right,
exude cool. Once surgery is completed on his other foot, he'll don matching
shoes. Nikes.
Zara's romance with All Black
The Queen's 30yearold granddaughter, Zara Phillips, who married English rugby
captain Mike Tindall, 32, at the Stuartbuilt Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh in
July, has a history of romancing rugby players.
She was previously linked to former All Blacks winger Caleb Ralph seven years
before she married ladies' man Tindall.
The Canterbury rugby player struck up a friendship with the young royal
during the Rugby World Cup in Australia towards the end of 2003. The pair
reportedly spent three days together after the All Blacks' last cup match.
The relationship quickly blossomed into a right royal romance and Ralph, now
34, spent that Christmas and New Year's period with Zara but the lovers went to
great lengths to keep their fling secret.
阅读(153) | 评论(0) | 转发(0) |
