Baby Girl Fights to Hang On: A Race Against Time
Her Mother Finds Help at Mother of Mercy
Little Mulsila’s first years of life were a fight from day one. Immediately after she was born, she was showing signs of sickness. She exhibited flu-like symptoms that were ongoing and seemed never ending. She had constant stomach problems and difficulty nursing.
Mulsila was born into a family whose father is a soldier and whose mother helps farm the crops, since her father is often away. The family depends on farming for a living and for their daily sustenance.
Farming has been a challenge, to say the least, across much of South Sudan in recent years. Severe weather from floods to drought, and random conflicts destroy the land and interrupt planting, leading to food insecurity for many. A massive population of refugees coming into the country to escape war in Sudan put an additional burden on the strained food supply. This made daily life difficult for Mulsila’s family.
When Mulsila’s health didn’t seem to improve, her mother took her to a local clinic in Katala where she was given medicine for the flu and a stomach ache. Unfortunately the medicine didn’t have the desired effect, and her baby’s symptoms did not go away.
Three months passed and Mulsila was brought in for a follow-up checkup and her condition had only worsened. Mulsila was diagnosed as severely malnourished. She was transferred to the Dalenj Hospital and because of the extent of her weakness, she was kept at the hospital for four months to receive ongoing nutrition support.
After four months, Mulsila was discharged and sent home, though her flu-like symptoms had not gone away. After being back home, she grew much sicker and started to have serious difficulty breathing. When her mother saw this, she took Mulsila to a different clinic in Timin. The doctor who examined the baby girl saw that her condition was critical. He advised Mulsila’s mother to take her to Mother of Mercy Hospital, where they might be able to save her.
Mother of Mercy Hospital was three days away by car, which was transportation Mulsila’s mother didn’t have. In a desperate search for help—and a miraculous answer—arrangements were worked out for little Mulsila to be transported by a Samaritan’s Purse convoy truck that was delivering humanitarian aid to the Nuba Mountains, which also happened to be where Mother of Mercy Hospital is located.
Mulsila’s mother held her baby girl tight in her arms as they traveled in the big cargo truck. Throughout the three day journey, she prayed that Mulsila would hang on. Mother of Mercy Hospital, a Sudan Relief Fund funded facility, is directed by missionary Dr. Tom Catena, a legendary figure in Nuba for bringing quality medical help that can’t be found anywhere else for hundreds of miles.
Prayers were answered and little Mulsila clung to life as they reached Mother of Mercy Hospital. She was admitted without delay and underwent tests to determine what was causing her health issues. Besides being chronically malnourished, Mulsila’s mother learned that her baby girl was suffering from tuberculosis (TB).
There is a dedicated tuberculosis ward at Mother of Mercy Hospital for children suffering with the disease. While TB can be deadly, there is a good rate of survival and recovery if proper treatment is received. However, Mulsila was under five years old—a higher risk factor—and no one knew exactly how long she’d been suffering from the illness, so it was difficult to determine the best treatment protocol.
Mulsila was given intensive nutrition treatment for malnourishment and put on a protocol of medicines to treat the tuberculosis. All the while, the baby girl held on. Then one day, she began to improve. Her symptoms gradually declined. An eventful four months after she was admitted to Mother of Mercy, Baby Mulsila was well and released to go home.
Mulsila fully recuperated from all her symptoms. Now a toddler, she can walk and even run and play like a little girl her age should be able to—because of a committed mother, a fortuitous truck convoy, and because the medical help she needed was there for her in a remote referral hospital in the Nuba Mountains.
These stories of lives saved are possible because of people like you, who support Sudan Relief Fund’s medical mission facilities like Mother of Mercy Hospital that bring medical care to people and places without it. Thank you for saving children like Mulsila, and so many others who are blessed by these lifesaving programs.
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