Living Her Dreams: New Milestones, New Beginnings, and Abundant Blessings
Featured Patients | 10 Aug 2022
After Lucy’s clubfoot was surgically corrected, she gained the confidence to interact with people and pursue her dreams.
Today, if you met 22-year-old Lucy from Kenya, you might not believe she grew up with a physical disability that left her isolated and stigmatized for most of her young life. That’s because you would see a vibrant, confident young woman with an infectious smile and steady steps. Lucy was one of about 1,500 Kenyans born with clubfoot every year. The condition is correctable, but in cultures that believe evil spirits cause disabilities, many children with clubfoot and other congenital conditions are never treated. Their communities reject them and their conditions worsen.
“I believe in God, and I pray He will heal me.”
Lucy says she, too, grew up believing her physical disability could not be treated. So she learned to adapt to her feet, which curved inward at an uncomfortable angle, and tried not to let her condition limit her. But Lucy was unhappy. “Life was hard as a teenager. People excluded me because of my disability,” she says.
New Beginnings
When the pain in her feet worsened, Lucy sought help at a local clinic—and stumbled upon the chance at a fresh start in life. She learned that clubfoot could be treated, and CURE Kenya was the place to go for such treatment. For the first time, Lucy saw that she could have the future she’d dreamed of.
Last year, CURE Kenya performed more than 2,000 life-changing reconstructive and orthopedic surgical procedures for children suffering from treatable disabilities. More than 200 of those are for clubfoot treatment.
After the necessary preparations, Lucy made the three-hour trip from her hometown to CURE Kenya in Kijabe for surgery on her right foot. Nine months later, the highly skilled surgeons at CURE surgically corrected her left foot. She was on the road to recovery.
For any significant corrective surgery, the body takes time to heal, and Lucy had numerous follow-up appointments to carefully ensure she was healing well. This is all part of CURE’s commitment to providing ongoing comprehensive care. “I believe in God, and I pray He will heal me,” said Lucy during treatment.
One important activity Lucy missed during her recovery was going to church. “With a cast, Lucy can’t walk to church; it’s quite a distance from home,” explained her mom, Mary. “I know when she is healed, she will sing in church and praise God.”
Despite the challenges she faced, Lucy showed courage, resilience, and gratitude. Her cheerful spirit even brought encouragement to the staff and other patients.
Abundant Blessings
Fast-forward to today. Lucy is a happy wife, budding businesswoman, and mother of three beautiful children — Elvis, Joseph, and Princess. Surgery restored not only her ability to walk normally, but also her self-esteem and confidence.
“Before I was treated, I was really shy and I didn’t really want to interact with anyone,” she shares. “Now, I am comfortable speaking to people and interacting with them because their attention is no longer on my feet.”
Lucy is grateful to be able to enjoy the things that most people experience, like having a family, getting invited to important events, and finally—wearing shoes.
“Starting a family was a big dream for me,” she shares. “I didn’t think I’d ever have a family of my own!”
Her husband, John, who is a barber, says he is proud of how Lucy takes care of their children and at the same time helps support the family by selling sausages in their neighborhood.
New Milestones
In 2020, Lucy met Deputy President William Samoei Ruto and other officials at CURE Kenya on International Day of Persons with Disabilities. She was invited to the gathering as one among many patients who underwent successful surgeries and experienced life-transforming outcomes. Upon seeing Lucy standing next to her before-and-after pictures, the Deputy President couldn’t believe his eyes and kept asking Lucy if she indeed was the young girl in the pictures.
“I consider being able to meet the Deputy President a milestone, and it is thanks to CURE,” Lucy says.
Seven years ago, Lucy came to CURE Kenya with painful clubfoot, a downcast spirit, and seemingly impossible dreams. Today, this God-fearing young mother is evidence of the gift of physical healing at the hands of compassionate, highly skilled CURE surgeons. The support of CURE’s generous donors makes such life-transforming physical and spiritual change possible every day for children across our network of children’s hospitals.
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All medical and ministry care is provided at no-cost to children and their families, made possible by the generous support of CURE partners and donors.
Make a gift that demonstrates the love of Christ to more children like Lucy by providing the surgical care they urgently need.
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