At first glance, he looks like any other 6-year-old—bright eyes, shy smile, and able to spend long hours playing Angry Birds on an iPad.
But Luis Fernando is not your typical 6-year-old. Three years ago he was involved in a tragic car accident when a taxi and two other cars collided at night in downtown Tegucigalpa, Honduras, killing three adults and leaving six seriously injured. Luis and his mother were among those seriously injured and were transported directly to the government hospital.
Luis had an open head wound with a skull fracture, was in shock, and his kidneys shut down for a short time. He had multiple seizures and required three blood transfusions. The doctors had to place a tube in his throat to help him breath and he was on a ventilator for more than two weeks.
Once his breathing tube was removed, he was unable to breathe on his own. The soft tissues in his throat had closed up around the tube and now the opening was too small to allow air to move freely in and out of his lungs. The doctors had to place a tracheostomy (an opening through the neck into the windpipe) so he could breathe.
For three years, Luis has had the hole in his neck to help him breathe. Without it he would suffocate. But the procedure to remove the scar tissue also requires reconstruction of his entire windpipe, making the surgery extremely difficult to perform, and there are no doctors in Honduras who can do it.
Luis' mother, Xiamara, has spent the past three years asking for help, hoping that Luis could have the surgery done in Mexico or in the United States. But she has not been able to get enough funds to make this possible.
When Xiamara heard that a group of ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctors were coming from Loma Linda University Medical Center in California, she hoped that this could be the opportunity she had been looking for.
Rachelle Wareham, MD, a pediatric ENT specialist at LLU Health, performed the surgery on May 6, 2013, at the Adventist Hospital in Valley of the Angels, Honduras. This was the first time ever that this surgery has been performed in the country of Honduras. The surgery was successful, and Luis will now be able to slowly be weaned off of his tracheostomy and breathe fully on his own.
After the surgery, Luis was sitting on his hospital bed, a huge smile on his face while playing Angry Birds on Dr. Wareham's iPad. Xiamara thanked the team for their work, with tears of gratitude streaming from her eyes, while Luis continued to play on the iPad. The saddest part of being discharged home for him was that he couldn't take the iPad with him.
Jason Lohr, MD, has served in the mission field with his family at Ile-Ife Adventist Hospital, Nigeria, and Valle de Angeles, Honduras. Dr. Lohr now works at the SAC-Norton Clinic in San Bernardino.
