ABEL DALOME BACKWARD KNEES

ABEL DALOME

     Abel is an unusually happy eleven-year-old, who says his favorite thing to do is to make friends.  His attitude is exceptional, considering the physical problem he has been living with for most of his life, and the reaction of most people to that problem.
     His childhood was normal until a problem arose following an injection. His parents noticed he was having difficulty learning to crawl. His muscles had stopped growing, but his bones had not. His legs were not growing as they should because there was so little musculature to direct them. As he grew, they began to bend backward at the knee, forcing his upper thighs out behind him. His parents took him to three different doctors, but none of them knew what to do for him.
    Despite this condition, the resolute Abel learned to lean forward, correcting his balance enough to walk, climb and do about anything any other active boy could do. He’s even the goalkeeper on his football (soccer) team. The only thing he couldn’t do was ride a bicycle, since it requires sitting straight on the seat and pumping down on the pedals from the front.
    His physical problem was so out of the ordinary, that the other children made him the object of ridicule, calling him terrible names and beating him. Yet, all of this never brought him to despair, never dampened his joyful spirit. His parents, however, were greatly concerned for his future.
     One day, there was an announcement on the radio that a Mercy Ship was coming to Togo, offering surgeries without charge. Abel’s father was hopeful that this time maybe something could be done for his son. He brought Abel to an orthopedic screening in Lome, where he received his appointment card for a surgery on the hospital ship Africa Mercy. Several days later, the volunteer surgeons straightened his left leg.
    A wonderful surprise awaited Abel when he awoke after surgery. His left leg was straight out in front of him, wrapped in a cast. He sat in his bed admiring it.  Then he asked his dad, seated beside his hospital bed, if his right leg would also be straight after the next surgery. His father assured him that it would. “If the other leg is going to be like this one, I am going to give a big thanks to the Lord,” said a jubilant Abel. In a few days, the second surgery straightened his right leg.
   The surgeries on Abel’s legs have required a long period of recovery. During that time, he and his dad have been staying at the Hospitality Center a short distance from the ship. Here, Abel did, indeed, make many friends among the other children recovering from   surgeries. Many times, Abel and his dad were transported to the ship for post operative care before the third procedure, plastic surgery on his knees. So, Abel has made many friends among the crew, also; flashing his brilliant smile in appreciation of all that is done for him.
     With the World Cup approaching, Abel is intensely interested in watching his favorite sport, and especially his favorite player, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba on TV. After so many weeks of recuperation, he is eagerly looking forward to getting out on the field himself. But his long-term goal is to become a surgeon some day, like those on the Mercy Ships “because of the things they have done for me,” he said.