His name is Ramswood. When LEAP doctors first met him, he was in the arms of his distraught young mother who kept her head buried in a scarf. Ramswood was born with a severe bilateral cleft lip and palate. The birth defect made it difficult for him to eat. He was a sickly, malnourished baby, much too weak for surgical reconstruction. Much to his mother’s disappointment, doctors would not be able to operate.
While Ramswood’s mother didn’t leave with the treatment she’d sought for her son, she left with hope. LEAP doctors fitted the infant with a device which would allow him to feed properly and gave his mother a nutritional plan. For the first time since his birth, she believed he might have a future.
The following year, Ramswood was healthy enough for surgery. The smile on his face speaks to its success.
The LEAP Foundation made its first trip to Damoh, India in 2003. On their first visit doctors were nearly overwhelmed by the immense need for surgery, as they faced a backlog of 650 patients with cleft lip & palate. It didn’t take long for our teams to realize there were many, many children like Ramswood.
A partnership with Central India Christian Mission has created an outreach program for the thousands of people in the poorest regions of India who have no other hope at a normal life.
Since 2003, LEAP teams have traveled more than 20 hours by air and 12 hours by train to reach Damoh. Every year, a full surgical team as well as an orthodontics team will spend 10 days in surgery and in consultation with families. Those children too weak for surgery are given a plan and a date for the operating room the following year.
In India, the need seems never-ending but so in our commitment. One look into Ramswood’s eyes and you can see why.
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