A 31-year-old burns victim from Cameroon travelled 6600km and overcame international travel restrictions to avail successful treatment at Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital recently. The hospital authorities coordinated with international embassies in China, Cameroon and Nigeria to ensure timely care for Mr Peter Esomba.
An unfortunate oven blast at Cameroon-based Coco factory, caused deep burn injuries on 50% of Peter’s face and 80% of his scalp. However, due to incessant local civil wars and scarce medical services, Peter couldn’t access quality healthcare for over five months. Eventually, after discussing the matter with the family and friends, Peter approached Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital for treatment.
“Fortunately, despite open wounds on face and scalp, the patient didn’t develop serious infection. We immediately formed a team of plastic surgeon, neurosurgeon, anesthetists and critical care specialists and charted an elaborate plan of action,” said Dr Parag Vibhakar, Consultant Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon, Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital.
However, loss of facial identification marks through extensive facial burns and scarring meant, Peter failed to procure a passport. “Due to the absence of Cameroon Embassy in India, we approached the Embassy of Cameroon in China. We apprised them about patient’s medical condition and requested to expedite his passport generation,” said Mangla Dembi, Senior Vice President and Head Operations, Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital.
Peter’s second roadblock was to procure a medical VISA for India. Commonly, Cameroon residents approach the Indian Embassy in Nigeria for travel or medical Indian VISA. The border between Cameroon and Nigeria was shut owing to the pandemic and Peter couldn’t travel to complete VISA formalities. “We appealed to the Hon’ble Indian High Commissioner in Cameroon and requested his support on compassionate grounds. We appreciate the timely assistance by Hon’ble Indian High Commissioner in helping the patient procure a medical VISA,” Dembi added.
After a month-long documentation struggle, Peter and his sister Blessing arrived at Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital.
“Our priority was to manage the open wounds on patient’s face and skull. His left eye had turned opaque due to the loss of eye lids and prolonged dryness. Peter would also continuously drool and failed to eat food properly due to misshapen lip and mouth,” said Dr Vibhakar.
In the span of two months, the team performed two important surgeries; first to manage the facial wounds through skin grafting and second to treat the skull wounds and restructure the left eye and lips. In following visits of the patient, the team will perform complicated procedures such as corneal transplant and improve the nasal structure through skin grafting. “The injuries were grave and caused extensive damage to the facial structure. Peter’s recovery will take some time but we aim to revive his old appearance and reinstate his life,” Dr Vibhakar added.
Peter and his sister Blessing thanked the doctors and hospital staff for the successful results. “After long spells of hardship, I felt relieved at Nanavati Max Hospital. I haven’t lost hope and will resume my social and professional life as soon as I go back. I look forward to come back to India and complete my follow-up surgeries,” said Peter who is preparing to fly back to his hometown on June 30.