When you meet 8-year-old Evani, you can’t help but catch her infectious and bubbly smile. This bright little girl loves to dance and joke with her family.
Evani has been through a lot. When she was 5-years-old, she was playing near the open fire where her mother was preparing food. Evani’s clothes brushed near the flame, and quickly caught fire.
The flames burned Evani’s entire torso and neck. Over the years, her burn scar contracted, fusing her neck completely into her chest so she was unable to move her head. Contractures occur when the burn scar thickens and tightens over time. A contracture is a serious complication of a burn, and usually forms over a joint, warping the areas of movement so that a child may have trouble doing normal things like dressing, walking, eating, or playing.
Evani’s family was eventually referred to The Nepal Cleft & Burn Center, run by ReSurge Nepal Director Dr. Shankar Rai. At the burn center, patients like Evani can get free care, funded by ReSurge donors like you.
Evani’s case was complicated. To heal her contracture, surgeons would have to do a split-thickness skin graft. They would need to take some “donor skin’ from her scalp and place it on her neck for regrowth.
Lucky for Evani, ReSurge’s team of Visiting Educators were in town, and were able to use her case as an opportunity to train the local residents on how to perform this complex surgery. ReSurge Visiting Educators and expert surgeons Dr. Chris Connor and Dr. Eric Mooney oversaw Evani’s surgery with local Nepali residents.
The surgery was a success! “If we didn’t find out about ReSurge, Evani would not have been able to live a normal life,” says her mother.
Evani’s recovery plan includes regular visits to free therapy sessions. You can see that after just three months the skin on her scalp has almost fully recovered and she now has mobility in her neck.
We are committed to giving patients like Evani who can’t afford treatment the best possible care. Make a donation to support patients like Evani here.
