Kenyan bravery

While on a safari in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park in 2006, I broke my leg. After I spent several days in Dar es Salaam getting medical attention and a cast, my husband and I proceeded to finish our planned itinerary.

The orthopedic doctor had provided a letter saying I could fly home as long as the cast was split to accommodate the normal swelling of airline travel. To split my cast, our driver took me to Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

In the treatment bay next to me was a little boy of 5 or 6. We waved and made faces. After his curtain was closed for a procedure, he started screaming and crying, and I could see that his mother was holding him down. It was only afterward that I saw he had a head injury that had been stitched… without any anesthetic.

He came over with a big grin on his face to say goodbye and touch me. I told him what a brave boy he was. His mother agreed.

This was one of the most touching, unprompted personal experiences I’ve had in all my years of travel.

LIBBY CAGLE
Homosassa, FL