10-year-old boy from Bubanza was hit by a piece of wood in his right eye. Since he got the accident, Ezekiel could not open the eye and it was seriously aching. Ezekiel was obliged to drop out of school.

Third of 6 children of a family that is relying on a small plot of land as farmers to survive, there was no financial means to get him to a hospital immediately.

To Jerome, his father, there was no hope, “he would be a handicapped forever”, he thought. He looked at his child helplessly and decided to borrow a sum of money to bring him to Roi Khaled, a public hospital in Bujumbura. Once he arrived there, he was referred to CTSOE and was thrilled to learn that the center would take care of the child’s eye for free. “I could not believe it. The doctor who consulted him said it was urgent and scheduled him for surgical intervention”.

As the doctor who took care of him says, his cornea was torn and an emergency procedure was required to repair the puncture and reconstruct the anatomy of the eye. “By doing an urgent intervention, we prevent infections. If there is injury, there is communication between the inside and the outside of the eye, an infection will follow and it will be difficult to treat”.

Picture of Ezekiel and his father smiling

A month later…

When they came for post operation follow up, both Ezekiel and his father could not hide their happiness. Jerome was happy that his son could see and has resumed his school activities.

The doctor says Ezekiel was fortunate because his operation was done very early, before there is contamination. “The eye is healed, of course there is a small scar but the eye kept its vision, to an extent”. Dr. Patrick Budengeri calls on parents to immediately bring their kids to the hospital, once they get such eye traumas.