When Dr. Goran Jovic was presented the case of a teenager attacked by a hyena, he turned to ReSurge Grand Rounds (RGR) for help. With advice from colleagues around the world, Goran was able to repair the wounds. Here is the story.
Several years ago in a rural Malawi village, the silence of a warm, still night in June was broken by panicked screaming. A rabid hyena was making its way through the village. It killed nine people, while numerous others were horribly wounded. Simolo, then 13, was one of them.
She survived, but the hyena severely disfigured Simolo’s face. A gaping hole above her lip made it difficult for her to eat or to control a persistent drool. As a consequence, she stopped going to school.
But aid workers in Malawi contacted ReSurge International and we got in touch with Dr. Goran Jovic, the only plastic surgeon in Zambia and director of our Surgical Outreach Program there.
Goran consulted with other physicians on ReSurge Grand Rounds and taking their advice into account, performed surgery to restore her face — and her hope.
Now, Simolo has returned to school and is back to living life like any other teenage girl.
