Saving a Young Boy’s Life – MAF in Papua New Guinea
In Papua New Guinea, it’s normal for kids to walk around with a knife. Knives are just a practical tool for cutting fruits and veggies, firewood, and grass. But if someone stumbles and falls, it can end disastrously. Like recently at Mougulu – the knife punctured the boy’s abdomen right through to the back and punctured his bowel and liver.
The Mougulu clinic staff did the best they could with the little they have. They immediately contacted Dr Kevin Pondikou, the residential doctor at Rumginae who then requested a medevac with MAF late that evening.
There’s no alternative to a medevac flight to save the boy’s life as there is no road to Kiunga nor to another town at which the boy could get medical help.
Around noon, the MAF plane landed at Mougulu. Sally Lloyd, who lives at Mougulu, was so “thankful that MAF came. The pilot, Mathias Glass, handled the boy in his gentle, caring manner. The boy was surprisingly calm too, though wincing in pain sometimes. It was a difficult one to secure – that lump on his middle is his intestines sitting outside his body.”
At Kiunga, Dr Kevin was waiting to receive the little patient and drove him another 4 hours to Tabubil where the surgeon was ready to receive him.
The weather at Tabubil can be tricky and challenging for aircraft to land. The day before, no aircraft could land at Tabubil because of rain and low clouds, not even the IFR airliner. To avoid a turnaround and change of plan because of weather, it was agreed to play safe and opt for a landing at Kiunga with the additional road travel.
Dr Kevin later wrote on his social media page: “I was grateful that the Surgeon at Tabubil was friendly and proactive so that it was a smooth transition that decreased the delay between the time of diagnosis and corrective measures.”
Two days later, we received the good news that the boy had undergone surgery and is recovering well. He was saved by the plastic protective wrapping that the team here at Mougulu did to protect his bowel from infection.
Please join us in prayer for continued healing for this little patient, that his wounds will heal well and that there won’t be any damage to his organs as he grows, and that he can get back to his village to continue his schooling. May he remember God’s healing touch and the kind care of many people who helped make his rescue possible.
Sally Lloyd & Mathias Glass