PNG medical ship provides the miracle gift of sight
It was in 2013 that Bray, an active 17-yearold PNG boy, lost sight in both eyes.
His brother, Dura, says: “At first we didn’t believe him, we joked that he paddled his canoe like an inland man – bumping into bushes on the river bank!”
But the once-capable fisherman, soccer player and student dropped out of school and other activities he loved. Bray was confined to familiar surroundings as he depended on family to lead him around his village and to help him eat and dress.
When Bray first lost his sight, his family took him to the closest hospital, in Oro Bay. Bray was given a glimmer of hope that eye specialists on board the Youth With A Mission medical ship MV YWAM PNG would be visiting soon and may be able to help.
“We waited and prayed for the ship to come for three years,” says Dura.
The ship did come in, just a few months ago, visiting 21 villages along the Oro coast, including Bray’s village of Emo.
Specialists detected cataracts in both eyes and performed a 40-minute surgery.
“This presentation was something myself and other specialists onboard had sadly seen in other young cataract patients in PNG, so my team and I were not at all certain how successful the surgery would be. We didn’t
want to hold out false hope for Bray, but on the other hand, were desperate to try,” says surgeon Bill Talbot.
Bray, with patches over his eyes, went home overnight and returned to the ship the next day to have them removed.
As the patches were gently peeled away, a sheepish smile emerged from Bray’s face. When one of the doctors held up her hand for a high five – he high fived her back. His sight had been restored.
“Bray has a whole new life in front of him now,” Dr Talbot says.
“Bray’s successful surgery is the result of an incredible team effort – the volunteers, national and provincial governments, local health workers and donors have all played their part in this miracle – we rejoice in the outcome, and remain encouraged to keep going.”
On her latest tour of duty, the medical ship visited 134 villages throughout the Gulf, Western, Central, Milne Bay, Oro and Morobe provinces.
Over 27,000 patients received healthcare over five months, including 132 sightrestoring surgeries, 21,000 immunisations, 4000 dentistry procedures and professional development services for 141 local health workers.
The ship is currently back in its home port of Townsville, where it is undergoing maintenance and renovation that will allow it to operate for 11 months of the year, serving an estimated 188,000 PNG people annually.
It is staffed by volunteers and operates on donations. YWAM is a global movement of Christians.