Venomous Snake Bite Leaves Arm Unusable: Boy Waits Seven Years For Life-Changing Surgery

An 11-year old boy from Sierra Leone can finally go to school and use his right arm again after his severely deformed limb was operated on by international health charity, Mercy Ships. 

Without the free surgery, Yusif’s right hand and arm would have remained severely contracted, leaving him unable to use them.

Yusif was five years old when he was bitten by a venomous snake while playing football with his friends. The snake left fang marks on his hand and a stabbing pain spreading up from his hand to his elbow. Within minutes, Yusif’s whole arm was bruised and blistered.

Yusif’s mother, Mariama, did all she could to find medical help. But there was no ambulance from his rural village near Mariba Town, Southern District. Instead, a traditional healer gave Yusif herbs to swallow.

“Different snake bites cause different reactions,” explains Mercy Ships volunteer surgeon, Tertius Venter, who operated on Yusif. “This type is local, so it doesn’t spread into the rest of the body, but it causes all the tissue in the area to die.

“With appropriate, early treatment, and antibiotics to stop infection, the limb could have been saved. But in Yusif’s case, he did not have access to proper treatment, so it caused widespread tissue death and infection. His body then shed the dead tissue and the healthy tissue from the sides grew together to close the wound. During that process, the joints were pulled in opposite directions causing a severely deformed limb.”

Despite the lack of funds, Mariama did not give up and eventually saved enough money to take Yusif to a hospital in Sierra Leone. The doctors looked at his arm, so bent and blistered, and said they must amputate.

“The doctor saw Yusif’s hand and said that the hand must be cut off,” explains Mariama. “I refused not to cut Yusif’s hand.”

But it was not easy watching her son grow up with a painful, unusable arm. Mariama explains that she often cried seeing her son struggling.

“Yusif felt ashamed and became very shy,” Mariama says. “He would hide his arm inside his shirt all the time, so it started to bend that way.”

In 2023, Mariama heard that the Mercy Ship, the Global Mercy, would be arriving in Sierra Leone, providing free, life-changing surgeries to women, men and children unable to access healthcare.

The 174m, 37,000 GT Global Mercy is the world’s largest charity hospital ship. Fitted with state-of-the-art facilities including operating theatres, recovery wards, intensive care, a pharmacy, and low-dependency wards, the volunteer medical crew have performed over 4,000 surgical procedures on board since September 2023. From life-threatening tumour removals, to cleft lips, the results for each individual were life-changing.

On 18th October 2023, Yusif underwent a complex three-hour operation on board the Global Mercy to release the contracture on his elbow and wrist. A second, follow-up surgery on 8th November, concluded the operations.

Mariama was overjoyed when she saw the transformation in her son and the smiles on his face.

“Mercy Ships has done a great job for our family,” says Mariama. “God made it possible through them so we are grateful. When I saw Yusif’s hand straight, I was so happy seeing my son. We both hugged ourselves with beautiful smiles. Then Yusif said, “Mummy, see my hand.”

Following the surgeries, Yusif began a long and often painful process of rehabilitation on board the Global Mercy with volunteer hand therapists. For three months the team worked closely with Yusif to help him gain control of his elbow, wrist and fingers.

“I feel good now,” says Yusif. “I was not able to do anything before with my hand, but now I can do everything. I can help my mum, I can play football, and go to school without feeling ashamed.”

Now, with a strong right arm, Yusif can return to school and confidently look ahead to a future of possibilities.

“I want to become a doctor,” says Yusif. “Because I want to help people like how Mercy Ships helped me.”