Families sing high praises of WPP

The World Pediatric Project (WPP) has come in for high praise from families of children who travelled to St Vincent and the Grenadines for free medical care recently.

During the just ended Hand and Pediatric Orthopedic mission, close to 200 children received assessments from the doctors and specialists, who travelled from St Louis, Missouri, for the April 16 to 22 tour of duty.{{more}}

Thirty of the patients hailed from the OECS region, including Dominica, Anguilla, St Kitts, St Lucia and Grenada.

A total of 30 operations were done at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, with surgeries performed on 17 Vincentians, four Grenadians, two Kittitians, one Anguillan and four Dominicans.

St Lucian mom Roseanna Jourdain, who brought her eight-year-old daughter Rojann for a follow-up assessment, expressed her gratitude to WPP for the much needed help that the family received.

Rojann, who has a fixed pelvis, did not undergo surgery this time around. She had hip surgery last year.

Roseanna expects that more needs to be done for her daughter in the future, and is grateful for the opportunity to be able to have her daughter see the specialists free of charge.

“If it was up to me, I would not have been able to see the doctors, because it is so expensive, and my family would not have been able to afford it,” she said.

Sharing the same sentiment was June Bridgewater, whose 16-year-old son, Hannif, underwent surgery to repair hip problems.  

The Kittitian praised Sister Jackie Browne-King and the local WPP team for their efforts to have her child and all the other visiting children on the programme.

“We are thankful to them for making it possible for us to get help. Most of us are poor and we don’t have the money to pay for these operations on our own.

“They are doing a great job in trying to help the poor. Thank you WPP!”

Another grateful mother was Grenadian Rhona Mark, whose 11-year-old son, Abel, was a late addition to the list, but will soon be flying off to the United States for free surgery.

Abel, a celebrity in his own right at home, suffers from scoliosis and multiple arthrogryposis.

Mark thanked WPP for coming to her assistance, and said that she looked forward to the next phase of his journey.

“Words can’t express how thrilled that we are.

“He is very glad to know that he would be getting surgery, because he wants to walk normally,” the mother said of her son, who gets around with ease on his knees.

The 13-member team, led by the head of operations at the Missouri head office, is one of the many missions to travel to St Vincent and the Grenadines this year.

The medical experts conduct assessments and perform surgeries for children with orthopedic, neurology, cardiac, urology, scoliosis, and other conditions.

Since its establishment more than 13 years ago, the WPP has seen thousands of children from St Vincent and the Grenadines and the region, and has conducted more than US $30 million worth of surgeries.