A woman suffering from enormous tumors covering her whole face feels “so happy” after having a seven-hour-long surgery.
Natalia Apaseray, who suffers from a disease known as neurofibromatosis, had enormous tumor growth on her face which has been successfully removed thanks to the efforts of an Australian team of surgeons.
Neurofibromatosis causes tumor formation on the skin, nerves and spinal cord. Natalia had such enormous tumors that she couldn’t even eat or drink properly.
Normally, in the developed world, the condition is treated at the time of birth but Natalia is from West Papua in Indonesia where no adequate health care facilities are available for infants.
Ignorance and lack of personal rights made Natalia a hated and bullied person in the community she was born in.
Michael Kernohan, one of the plastic surgeons in the team who operated Natalia, spoke to SBS news, saying: “She was found by one of the missionary workers in her country in a bin with local kids throwing rocks at it.”
Daily Mail reported that one of the people who found Natalia reached out to Peter Gray, a member of non-profit Rotary Club of Phnom Penh, looking for help to get her out of the misery.
They said: “No one deserves to live like this.”
The president of the club contacted Rotary Clubs in Sydney and they raised $27,000 to cover the expenses of bringing Natalia to Australia and treating her condition.
The sheer complexity of the procedure can be judged from the fact that the team of surgeons headed by cardio-thoracic surgeon Bruce French had to spend one and a half years preparing and planning for the surgery.
“Rotary flew Natalia to Australia late in 2018 for an intensive week of medical appointments and scans before she returned again in May as a humanitarian patient,” explained plastic surgeon Kernohan.
The first surgical procedure was carried out last May by a team that consisted of plastic surgeons, ear, nose and throat surgeons, ophthalmologists, anesthetists, nursing staff and radiologists.
The second important procedure was the facial reconstructive surgery that was carried out last June.
“There are countless people who offered their time to be part of something that had never been done in a NSW hospital,” Kernohan continued.
“Natalia has been so brave throughout this unfamiliar journey and has not complained once.”
The woman is extremely thankful for all the help she has been given by the Rotary Clubs and the Liverpool hospital.
“I felt a lot of shame growing up in Jayapura because of my face,” she said to news.com.au.
“I am so happy to be going back to see my community. I no longer feel the need to hide my face. There is no way I can pay everyone back for how they have helped.”
Replaced!