09 July, 2009

Edna Hospital : Ayaan Needs Facial Reconstruction

Edna Hospital : Ayaan Needs Facial Reconstruction


Medeshi
under Edna Adan
Here is the transcript of the forthcoming video where Edna Adan appeals to the world to get help for a young woman whose face was destroyed when she was shot - shot in the face when she was only two years old!

I would like to speak to you about the case of Ayaan Osman, a child who was shot in the face when she was two years old during the Somali Civil War that Somaliland had with Somalia in 1988.
At the time of her injury, Ayaan was taken to a refugee camp where fortunately she was given the medical care that saved her life. Today, Ayaan is a young woman who has taught herself to read and write, not only in Somali but also in English. Unfortunately, Ayaan has a gap in her face. Ayaan has a hole on the side of her face, with a tooth sticking out here and a hole from where food and liquid, as she drinks, pours out from. Ayaan is from Burao and has come to our hospital in Hargeisa to seek help.
I was very touched by her case. We get many patients whom we can save. And we also have some patients that we cannot, and we move on. but the case of Ayaan has left a lot of pain in me because I often wonder where I would be if had been the one who had sustained those injuries that Ayaan did when she was two years old. I feel very touched when I see her eat and drink and have to deal with the liquid that is pouring out. I don't know how she does it.
She has lived for 20 years with that condition. And because God has given me a voice and has given me the ability to reach out to the world, that is why I am appealing to the world out there for the medical assistance and the facial reconstruction that Ayaan needs in order to lead a normal life like everybody else does.
I appeal for plastic surgery. I appeal for facial reconstruction for Ayaan and I thank you all for your attention.
- Edna Adan Ismail
For more information - including how you can make a donation - please see the web site we have created for Ayaan at http://www.helpayaan.org/
Please be advised, the photos will be difficult for you to look at.

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