About A Boy Update
A note this morning from Debra who asks after Hafid, a young deaf man in Morocco I wrote about in a previous post. My friend, Veronika, is working for a service organization in a small town in Morocco. Around this time last year she sent up a flare asking for money for Hafid to get an MRI. He has some faint hearing but no ear holes and as he grew up the bone closed over the entry to the ear canal. And around this time last year I won a couple of hundred dollars on a lucky bet at a Kentucky Derby party so Hafid got his MRI. Ridiculous to think of how little money separated this young man from medical services.
Once the MRI was back, the doctors in Morocco declared there was nothing to be done. Had he been operated on as a baby it would have been simple to fix. This was sad news and I suggested to Veronika that we must not give up. She sent out a query to her list asking if anyone knew a doctor in the States who might look at Hafid’s MRI and give a second opinion.
The good news came in just yesterday. A doctor here says there are three ways forward for Hafid, all of which will restore hearing to a functional degree. Inside the deformed ears the inner canal is perfect. The first and best way he suggests is plastic surgery to improve the appearance of the ears with a special hearing aid designed for such conditions.
So, perseverence has yielded wonders. Here’s to the hard-working devotion of Veronika. There is a way forward. Now the next step involves finding a doctor who will perform these services for free and finding the funds for Hafid to come over here to have the work done. I’m done betting on horses but am hoping my new work will yield a surplus of cash so that I might donate to the cause.
Thanks for writing, Debra! So curious your note came the day after Veronika sent the news! It really is the concerns of others that are changing this young man’s life! I’ll keep you posted on the developing story. The hope is he might come to New York next December.
May 26th, 2007 at 6:27 am
This child has been on my mind for some time. I’m so glad things are moving forward for him.