Refugee's 10-year struggle with multiple health complications ends with successful surgery, baby delivery

Bisharo Iftin, a 21-year-old refugee, is recuperating at Garissa Referral Hospital after a team of medical doctors saved her life to tackle a pregnancy complication and a large multi modular goitre she endured for the last 10 years.

The large multi modular goitre continued to grow as she failed to meet her transport and medical costs during her past referrals from the Hagardera refugee camp to Nairobi.

The three-hour surgery was performed by a team of experts, including specialists in obstetrics, an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist and a vascular surgeon who successfully tackled the conditions, where she also successfully delivered a baby girl through a surgical procedure.

Mahat Salah, the Chief Executive Officer of Garissa Referral Hospital, said the patient was referred from Hagardera Refugee Camp in the Fafi sub-county.

"She arrived in critical condition, in the final stages of pregnancy and suffering from a dangerously large thyroid enlargement that threatened her life," he said.

He said her condition continued to worsen after she failed to afford transport and medical treatment in Nairobi.

The situation forced them to mobilise the health workers at the Garissa Referral Hospital to address the multiple health challenges.

Mahat said the large goitre grew for the past 10 years, obstructing her breathing system.

Dr. Mohamed Nur, a vascular surgeon at the hospital who was among the team that attended to the patient, said despite the complexity of the procedure, the team of doctors combined efforts to ensure the surgery was successful.

"We are happy to successfully operate on this young woman who had labour-related complications and a large multinodular goitre, which needed immediate surgical intervention. It was delicate and technical procedure," he said.

He stated that the goitre was affecting both lobes of the thyroid and had caused significant airway obstruction.

"Due to the complex nature of the case, we had to ensure that every step of the surgery was meticulously planned and executed. We're proud to see her recovering well, and we remain optimistic about her full recovery," he added.

Dr. Fuad Farah, lead surgeon and ENT specialist, said the patient had difficulty breathing due to the massive growth.

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"We had to act quickly to relieve the pressure on her upper respiratory tract. The goitre was highly vascular and had spread throughout her neck," he noted.

Dr. Fuad further stated that her condition had been worsening as the growth continued to enlarge for the past 10 years. Her earlier referrals to Nairobi could not materialise since she had no money to meet her logistics and medical expenses, causing the growth enlargement.

"She endured a lot of psychological and emotional trauma as she battled with the disease for decades. Now she can smile due to the intervention," he said.

Jamila Iftin, Bisharo's elder sister, expressed joy over the successful medication. "She endured the pain of the disease for a long time. We could not raise funds for past referrals to Nairobi. Today, we are happy that doctors at the Garissa Referral Hospital acted humanely to save her life, she said.

Mahat equally appreciated the doctors for their heroic intervention.

He urged members of the public not to avoid seeking medical assistance from the referral hospital despite over 700 medical workers being on strike since March 1.

"The hospital continues to provide essential healthcare services to the community, we have dedicated staff who decided not to participate in the strike to help patients against suffering. The successful operation of Bisharo is a testament of dedicated medics who value humanity," he said.

He said the hospital receives referrals from the neighboring counties as well as Somalia and Ethiopia.