A mother and daughter who both had face tumors removed for free by volunteer physicians have been offered a second chance at life when the growths were discovered to be similar. The mother, who is only identified by her first name, Valerie, endured 25 years of harassment as a result of the 8-pound (3.6-kilogram) salivary gland tumor that dominated the right side of her face.
When her daughter Edith, who is now 12 years old, was diagnosed with a similar growth that began as a little bump behind her ear five years ago, she was utterly heartbroken.
The Cameroonian couple, who were struggling to make ends meet, had no alternative but to watch the swelling masses expand until Valerie learned that the floating hospital Mercy Ships was moored eight hours away. At that point, they were able to seek medical attention.
Valerie took the difficult choice to separate herself from her daughter in order to undergo a procedure that may alter the course of her life.
After a drawn-out healing period of six weeks, she went back to her hamlet, only to embark on the journey once again with Edith by her side. It is unknown how much weight Edith’s tumor carried with it.
Valerie recalled her reaction when the bandages covering her surgical incisions were removed: “I said, “Wow! Is this truly happening to me? I can’t believe that this is happening to me. It really is a miracle.
Valerie, who struggles to make ends meet, had no choice but to suffer with her growth for decades, and she was left inconsolable when Edith, who was only seven years old, was diagnosed with the same tumor.
Dr. Gary Parker, a volunteer surgeon, performed surgery on Valerie when the charity vessel ‘Africa Mercy’ was docked in the United Kingdom. She had been absent from her hometown for almost a month and a half when she finally returned to find that Edith’s tumor had been completely removed.
After two weeks, the couple made their way back to the floating hospital, where this time Edith would also have surgery.
Before traveling with her mother back to their own country, Edith recuperated for a period of two months onboard the Mercy Ships. Since its inception in 1978, the organization has carried out 95,000 medical procedures in underdeveloped nations.
