Aminata and baby Memunatu with tumor- SWNS / Mercy Ships
A British surgeon removed a life-threatening tumor from a baby’s neck that was as big as her entire face.
The lump has been growing since she was just five months old, but when her mother, Aminata, took her to the local hospital in Sierra Leone doctors told her she was too young for surgery.
By the time she was ten-months-old her family began to fear the worst until Aminata bumped into a volunteer who works for Mercy Ships, a healthcare charity that operates hospitals aboard ships.
Global Mercy was docked in Freetown, and when the staff saw how the tumor would eventually suffocate her, they immediately agreed to perform surgery aboard their ship for free.
“I was very worried for my child,” said Aminata. “She’s so little for such a condition.”
Earlier this year, she was admitted and prepped for the meticulous four-hour surgery performed by Royal London Hospital’s Maxillofacial Head and Neck Surgeon, Dr. Leo Cheng.
He successfully removed the tumor, effectively saving baby Memunatu’s life.
When Aminata first took her baby daughter to hospital, it was wrongly believed to be just a symptom of her having a cold, but the tumor continued to grow.
Miraculously, during one visit to a children’s hospital, Aminata and Memunatu met a Mercy Ships volunteer, South African Anne-Marie Van Tonder, who immediately recognizing the critical situation, and referred Aminata for a surgery on the ship.
Baby Memunatu with nurses aboard Global Mercy ship – SWNS
Dr. Cheng confirmed that without the surgery, her condition would have continued to worsen, affecting her ability to swallow, eat, speak, or even cry.
The tumor was compressing Memunatu’s airway and the medical team worked with skillful precision during the anesthesia process to manage her airways during the challenging intubation. Once under anesthesia, the slow, meticulous surgery took nearly four hours.
“With every single millimeter I was estimating, calculating, and trying to prevent any bleeding,” Cheng said.
“It went very slowly but very positively—thank God.”
Following the successful surgery, Memunatu and her mother remained on the ship until the swelling subsided and she recovered.
Back at home, weeks after her surgery, her neck has healed.
Baby Memunatu with mom after surgery – Mercy Ship / SWNS
“When she was discharged, it was such a great joy for me to see Memunatu’s face,” said Anne-Marie.
“The tumor had grown so fast, almost the size of her head, hiding her beautiful face… her eyes were so full of light and joy.”
Since 2023, the Global Mercy ship has provided more than 3,630 free surgeries in sub-Saharan Africa to people who are robbed of years of healthy life due to conditions that are easily treatable.
“If not for this surgery that Mercy Ships did for my child, she would have lost her life.”
MORE MERCY SHIPS SUCCESS:
• Boy Had to Go Barefoot for 13 Years After Childhood Injury–But Can Now Wear Shoes Thanks to Free Surgery
• Toddler Unable to Bend Arms Due to Burns Hugs Parents For First Time After Free Life-Changing Surgery
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