This Is a Soul by Marilyn Berger

Author:Marilyn Berger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

Chapter 7

My Son Has Been Reborn

NOT LONG AFTER ZEWDIE ARRIVED in 2005, a local teacher in Addis asked Rick to look in on a patient who had developed an infection following back surgery. Rick contacted the surgeon, a Dr. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei in New York, and they exchanged e-mails about the case. In one of his e-mails, Rick said he was coming to New York to see his father, and Dr. Boachie suggested they meet. So it was that because a boy in Addis happened to develop a postsurgical infection, Rick came upon an extraordinary doctor who was ready and able to help his growing number of patients with spinal deformities, Zewdie among them.

Connections within the philanthropic medical establishment tend to be serendipitous and unpredictable. Groups and individuals who may be willing to help are hidden in pockets around the world, but most of them know little or nothing about the others. Finding Dr. Boachie meant Rick would no longer have to scrounge around and send out multiple letters hither and yon looking for help, at least for his spine patients.

Dr. Boachie invited Rick to his office at the Hospital for Special Surgery, one of the best orthopedic hospitals in the United States.

As Rick remembers it, the walls of his office were filled with awards and framed articles about his work, but he felt the many accolades were not necessary to know that this man, who headed the spine service at one of the world’s most prestigious orthopedic hospitals, was a substantial physician. There was something in his manner, Rick says. “He is soft-spoken and low-key. He does not brag. He does not have to. You know he is probably the best spine surgeon in the world.”

Dr. Boachie was born in Ghana, and when he was eight years old, a Western-trained physician cured him of a tropical disease that otherwise would have killed him. He vowed to help others, and to repay the favor, he returns to Ghana twice a year to perform surgery on needy African children at no charge. He operates in a government hospital, although he has been working for years to raise funds to build a state-of-the-art thirty-bed facility there. A dignified compact man with a neat beard and aristocratic bearing, he has started a foundation, FOCOS, the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spines, to help children with spinal malformations.

The two doctors ordered in pizza, and Rick told Dr. Boachie about his work in Ethiopia and described the kind of help he needed. Rick explained that he had no money, but Dr. Boachie didn’t consider that an insurmountable obstacle. He said, “Let me know about your funds, and we can figure out how to work together.”

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