From a Life-threatening Infection to Healing and Hope
For four exhausting months, Jane watched her child slowly decline. In their modest home in Mukono District, Uganda, Jane, a mother of eight, faced every parent’s worst nightmare: an illness she could neither understand nor afford to treat.
What began as a simple fever quickly spiralled into a life-threatening infection that left her 20-month-old daughter, Edith, fighting for every breath. As Jane searched desperately for help, the swelling spread across Edith’s chest, eventually leaving a severe wound that continued to worsen.
“The wound just kept getting bigger and bigger,” Jane recalls. “My baby was in so much pain that she stopped crying. She stopped laughing. She would just lie there, helplessly silent in her pain.”
As the illness progressed, fear and misinformation surrounded the family. Some members of the community, and even local health workers, urged Jane to abandon medical care and seek traditional healing instead.
“It was the hardest time of my life,” Jane says. “Everyone had their own explanation, but no one could tell me how to save my child.”
By the time Edith reached Mulago National Referral Hospital, her condition had become critical. Then, just when hope seemed lost, a nurse encouraged Jane to seek care at EMERGENCY’s Children’s Surgical Hospital in Entebbe. With no money left, the journey was only possible after a well-wisher paid for their transport.
“When we arrived at this hospital… everything changed,” Jane says. “For the first time, I felt that someone was truly willing to help my child.”
At EMERGENCY, Edith finally received a diagnosis: necrotizing fasciitis, a rare and aggressive bacterial infection that can rapidly destroy skin, soft tissue, and muscle. A multidisciplinary team carried out a series of complex procedures to remove the infection and rebuild the damaged tissue on her chest. Every stage of her treatment was provided free of charge.
“Many children do not survive this condition,” says Dr. Geert Morren, a Senior Surgeon at EMERGENCY’s Children’s Surgical Hospital.
But Edith did.
Today, Edith is healing under the care of surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, nutrition specialists, and the wider clinical team.
“The moment we stepped into EMERGENCY, the heavy weight of isolation vanished,” Jane says. “The staff didn’t just look at her wounds; they looked at us with deep compassion. For the first time in four months, I felt entirely supported.”
Edith’s story highlights the reality faced by many families with limited access to specialised surgical care. It also shows what is possible when timely intervention, clinical expertise and medical solidarity come together.
For Edith and her mother, the outcome is simple but profound: a child once lost to pain now has the chance to live, heal, and grow.
Photos by Haruna Musa