FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – When 10-month-old baby Memunatu arrived at the Global Mercy , a state-of-the-art hospital ship, her tiny face was burdened by the weight of a large tumor on her neck. This tumor affected her ability to swallow, eat, speak, and even cry. Her mother, Aminata, was referred to several doctors who were unable to help. All it took was one encounter, one surgeon’s expertise, to change their lives forever for the better.
When Anne-Marie van Tonder, a Mercy Ships volunteer from South Africa, met Memunatu and Aminata hospital in Freetown she was moved by compassion for this family. Connecting Aminata with the Global Mercy, it did not take long for Memunatu to be brought under the care of Dr. Leo Cheng, a maxillofacial surgeon from the United Kingdom.
Dr. Cheng, who has passionately volunteered with Mercy Ships for two decades, immediately recognized the urgency of Memunatu’s case. Reviewing her scans revealed that, although the mass was not cancerous, it posed serous risks to her survival.
“Without the surgery, her condition would have continued to worsen,” Dr. Cheng explained. “It could have become life-threatening.”
A significant portion of today’s global disease burden can be alleviated through surgical intervention. Even so, 5 billion people, close to two-thirds of the world’s population, lack access to safe, affordable, and timely surgical care. Rough estimates show that someone dies every two seconds from a preventable medical condition that could have been treated surgically.
Recent work in The Lancet Oncology highlights how delays in surgical care, even for seemingly benign tumors, can lead to increased health complexities, risks, and suffering. Patients not only experience the escalation of symptoms, but also psychosocial isolation and stigma many in their communities regard them as demon- possessed.
Dr. Cheng would do all he could to keep Memunatu from this future of pain and rejection. Her surgery was a delicate procedure; since her airway was already compromised, anesthesia and intubation required extraordinary coordination between the surgical and nursing teams.
“With every single millimeter, I was estimating, calculating, and trying to prevent any bleeding. It went very slowly, but very positively,” Dr. Cheng recalled.
When the surgery concluded, when the swelling finally subsided, Memunatu’s transformation was striking. Her beautiful face was visible again, and her eyes were full of light and joy.
Dr. Cheng reflected on the broader significance of Memunatu’s healing: “Every surgery like this reminds us that access to safe surgery is not a luxury, but essential. When we restore someone’s face, we restore their humanity, their acceptance, and their hope.”
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