Update on Rosa

I had the pleasure of seeing Rosa a few weeks ago. We blogged about Rosa in July of 2009 and following are the links for those blog entries: http://joeandtracyinecuador.blogspot.com/2009/07/mordida-de-serpiente.html and http://joeandtracyinecuador.blogspot.com/2009/07/update-on-rosa.html.

As you may remember, Rosa is a girl from a Shuar community several hours from here. She was living in her jungle community when she was bitten by a poisonous snake on her leg. Her family had taken her to another hospital where she continued to get worse. After several days, she was brought to our hospital, Hospital Vozandes del Oriente, and we admitted her for a much-needed lower leg amputation. She slowly recovered and was later discharged. She was supposed to come for follow up visits but never returned. That was over a year ago. We all wondered what may have happened to her.

Our orthopedic surgeon happened to be in a nearby town when he recognized Rosa's father and asked him how Rosa was. Apparently, she was doing quite well and only a 10 minute drive from here. She was back in school but still using crutches to get around. On a rainy Sunday, Sebastiao and I drove out to see her and her family and snapped this picture. The other picture is the one I took just after being admitted. Since that day, Rosa, with the help of one of our surgeon's has been to Quito and now has a new leg. I haven't had a chance to see her but I understand that she's thrilled. The prosthetic leg and visits have been pretty costly so if anyone feels led to contribute any money that could go towards paying for treatment, please email us at jmartin@hcjb.org.ec.

Many of you had emailed me over the course of the last year wanting an update on Rosa. What a joy it is to be able to relate this story to you and show how faithful our God is!
Blessings
Joe and Tracy