I’ve recently heard of a doctor named Lewis Wall, an ob-gyn at Washington University in St. Louis. He hasn’t always been a doctor though, he started out as an anthropologist in South Africa but at the age of 27 decided to become a doctor. And it is this decision which has greatly changed the life of countless women suffering from a medical condition called obstetric fistula or vaginal fistula.
Wikipedia describes this condition as; a severe medical condition in which a fistula (hole) develops between either the rectum and vagina (see rectovaginal fistula) or between the bladder and vagina (see vesicovaginal fistula) after severe or failed childbirth, when adequate medical care is not available.
This condition renders women incontinent, or unable to control bladder or even bowel movement and their smell turns them into pariahs and cause them to be abandoned even by their own families.
Imagine living in a pool of feces and urine with no one to turn to, and where everybody else turns away.
But this is curable, and Dr. Lewis Wall has dedicated his life in treating this condition. For him, it is just a simple operation that can be done in minutes. Yet for these women, this becomes an astonishing life-transforming event which gives them their life back.
One can only really appreciate grace, and kindness from a helping hand when we are at our most desperate.
And like Dr. Lewis Wall, how many of us would change the course of their lives, or even just their schedule for today to make a better life for others?
AG
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/opinion/01kristof.html?th&emc=th
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obstetric_fistula
