Nitanga’s battle with Hand Contractures
Naitingas Lekuuk
Gender & Age: Female, 4 years
Manyatta: Ntaparani, Namunyak Conservancy
Diagnosis: Hand Contractures (4 left arm fingers)
Nitangas Lekuuk is a student Ntaparani Montessori school run by The Sarara Foundation. The teachers alerted the Health Team of her condition.
Nitangas contractures were the result of a burn accident she had at home when she accidentally put her hand inside a cooking pot with hot water.
With no resources and being far away from a hospital, Nitangas’ parents opted to treat the burn at home using traditional herbs which unfortunately resulted to the hand healing with contractures.
Nitangas’ hand contractures greatly impacted her life, kept her from playing and subsequently resulted in stigma and withdrawal.
A Consulting Doctor from Meru County was requested to travel to Samburu to review Nitangas, since no nearby specialists were available due to Covid-19. Although this was expensive, the doctor’s assessment and diagnosis gave the parents hope.
The doctor diagnosed Nitangas with Hand Contractures and referred her to Chogoria, a private hospital in Meru about 190km from her home.
Her surgery was booked for 9 April 2021.
Recovery
The Sarara Foundation’s Health Team has been visiting Nitangas regularly to monitor her progress and recovery; which have both been amazing.
Nitangas returned to hospital on the 28th of April for assessment and to have the pins removed. Her father has been incredibly supportive throughout the entire process and is taking his responsibility of assisting Nitangas with her physiotherapy at home very seriously - despite little knowledge of the field.
Although the doctors don’t expect Nitangas’ hand to look 100% normal, she will regain near-normal functioning of her hand.
The teachers are also supporting and monitoring her to ensure that she uses both hands when interacting with the learning materials in school.
This is a life changing surgery for Nitangas!
