Cleft conditions corrected in 12 patients
THEY UNDERGO FREE SURGERIES AT CLEVELAND CLINIC ABU DHABI AS PART OF OPERATION SMILE UAE’S SECOND MISSION
Zack Yohen is nearly two years old and a bundle of energy. But his parents are still waiting to hear his first real words.
Fortunately, this could soon become a reality when Yohen undergoes corrective surgery for his cleft palate, which has so far stood in the way of his speech.
“Our son was born with clefts in his lip as well as in his palate. A life-changing surgery last year corrected his lip, and we are now eagerly waiting for another procedure to repair the cleft palate he still has,” Bernadette Guarino, 37, Yohen’s mother from the Philippines, told Gulf News before the surgery.
Yohen is one of 12 patients who received corrective surgery in the capital over the weekend as part of the second UAE mission by Operation Smile UAE. Like the international charity, its local arm, which was set up in 2011, organises fund-raising missions in order to provide free corrective surgeries to children in countries like India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
UAE missions
Last year, it held its first UAE mission, hosted at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and 12 patients aged between 11 months and 11 years underwent surgery. There was also a 32-year-old patient who received surgery.
This year, a total of 32 patients were screened. The 12 who have been selected include 10 children, aged nine months ■ ■ old and older, adult patients.
“We do not end up operating on everyone we screen, because some of the children are too young or may not be physically well enough for surgery,” explained Morag Cromey-Hawke, executive director of Operation Smile UAE.
Internationally, about one in every 750 children is born with a cleft condition. These deformities as well as two ■ are also known to be more common in certain countries like the Philippines, India, China, as well as nations in South America. The defects mean that children often fail to thrive because they cannot get enough nutrition. They are also prone to developing infections and speech concerns, and to suffering from low confidence levels due to social stigma about their appearance, Cromey-Hawke explained.
This year’s UAE mission was once again hosted at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. It saw the participation of more than 200 volunteers from the hospital, as well as 24 other local medical volunteers. In addition, 14 international volunteers, such as plastic surgeons, speech and language therapists and nurses, were also part of the team. The surgeries were conducted on Friday and yesterday.
Guarino is excited about her son’s follow-up surgery.
“We have three daughters, but Zack is our youngest and our only son. It will be a relief to know that he can live a normal life. Perhaps the hardest thing for us to witness was when other children noticed that Zack was different, and asked their parents about him. Now, with the cleft lip corrected, we want him to also develop the ability to speak,” she said.
Fadi Hikmat, 32, and his wife, 28-year-old Rasha Shamoon, were another set of hopeful parents at the screening. Their 17-month-old daughter, Edele Alqaselya, has a cleft palate that needs to be repaired, and they had been flown in all the way from Arbil in Iraq for the screenings.
“Our daughter was born with multiple congenital deformities, including club foot and a heart condition that prevented her from getting enough oxygenated blood. As a result, she had to undergo open-heart surgery as an 11-month-old,” Hikmat said.
Cromey-Hawke said Operation Smile UAE would work to facilitate the corrective surgery for little Edele, but at a later date.