On a mission to fix broken hands
Watching a child struggle to hold a spoon or lift their arm above their head became a daily occurrence for a Waikato occupational therapist.
Lauren Spring, 24, from Morrinsville is back from a three month ‘‘life changing trip’’ healing hands in Senegal, West Africa.
On board the Mercy Ship, the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, Spring dealt with patients who suffered from burns and scars leaving them with minimal movement and dysfunction.
‘‘We were dealing with mainly kids that had burn contractions, so they were burnt when they were younger and they had contracted into funky positions, which left them with some dysfunction,’’ Spring said.
‘‘A lot of them had their hands contracted into a fist and so they had their thumb that was functional and a little bit of their index finger, but the rest of their fingers were in a closed fist.
‘‘Hands have one of the highest burn rates anyway – to protect yourself from a flame you automatically put your hands up, but a lot of their burn injuries were from open fires and then there were some that were hot water burns.’’
If the patients had limited function, she said, they would place k-wires or steel pins in each of their fingers to release the contraction, and conduct skin grafts for the scar tissue. Then the patients would go through rehab requiring them to do regular exercises and functional tasks.
‘‘One of the worst cases was a 21 year old that had bilateral hand burns. His left hand had no fingers really and no thumb, it was basically just his palm.’’
She said his right hand was no better with no movement in his wrist and fingers, except for his middle finger.
‘‘He had surgery on his left hand to give him web space between his thumb and his finger, so he could grip things.’’
Previously, Spring worked at Waikato Hospital and a clinic in Thames once a week, helping patients with minor acute injuries.
She said the experience really stretched her skills to the limit and made her work harder to see results.
‘‘I’m used to seeing acute injuries and I’m not used to dealing with kids,’’ she said.
‘‘So it was super different than what I’ve experienced before, because in New Zealand patients just get treated straight away and it wouldn’t get to this point.
‘‘I guess in my head I was trying to rehab them and re-train their motor patterns to make it like a normal hand, but that’s not actually what it’s about. It’s about regaining function and retraining their motor patterns to an extent.’’
Spring was so impacted by her tour-of-duty that she has signed up to return in February for another four-month volunteer service. Lauren feels she grew personally as well as professionally as part of the international crew.
‘‘With a couple of my patients I saw them about 70 times and multiple times a day, so we formed incredible bonds with our patients and staff.
‘‘Even though it’s sore and sometimes painful for some patients, they are so stoked to be there and have so much love and so much kindness to give.
‘‘This experience has given me so much and made my life so much richer.’’
To support Spring on her February trip donate to Mercy Ships and in the comments write Lauren Spring 5256.