Jespa Awomah closed his eyelids and moved his right hand around freely Monday at Torrance Memorial Medical Center for the first time since he was a baby.
Despite the pain, he beamed.
The 16-year-old from a Cameroon farming village was disfigured when he fell into a fire pit as an infant. There was no medical treatment to be had at the time, so he learned to farm, read and write despite having no use of one arm and one eye.
•VIDEO: Jespa Awomah sees bandages removed from his hand
A group of philanthropic organizations partnered with the hospital to help him this year, flying him and a caretaker to the South Bay to undergo a series of reconstructive surgeries and physical rehabilitation.
Together, they raised about $100,000 for his expenses and medical care and expect to spend several times more than that before his yearlong visa expires.
“I see my hand,” Awomah said, staring in amazement as Dr. Matthew Reiss carefully removed bandages. “I cannot believe it. They have done a miracle on me.”
Awomah was 10 months old when he fell into the fire pit. His right arm — along with his hand and fingers — fused to the side of his body. He also lost his right ear, right eye and his left eyelid.
Members of El Segundo-based Plant a Seed met him while distributing school supplies to his village three years ago. He asked them for some books but the organization’s founder, Ruth Akumbu, decided to try to find help for what he really needed.
“This child didn’t need books, he needed help with his eye and hand,” Akumbu said. “He is extremely sensitive and very industrious. Even with his hand the way it was, he was able to use it. He went to school, farmed, worked odd jobs, and never looked at himself as a victim.”
She put a call out on Facebook shortly after learning about Awomah’s situation but didn’t get any offers of help. She kept trying, eventually going to Cameroon and making a video featuring the boy’s story. Still, nothing happened for awhile.
About a year ago, a Torrance Memorial Medical Center spokeswoman saw the Facebook posting. She took Awomah’s story to the hospital staff, which decided they could help him. Reiss, a plastic surgeon, volunteered his services, and the hospital is treating him at a discounted rate.
The Sherman Oaks-based Children’s Burn Foundation came up with the money for his personal and medical expenses while he’s here. He is staying in El Segundo with a host family and caretaker from his village.
Members of all the organizations gathered in Awomah’s hospital room on Monday to watch Reiss remove the bandages from his surgeries last week. Awomah cried in pain as the doctor carefully uncovered his newly freed hand. Once the dressings were off, Awomah didn’t stop smiling.
“It’s so great,” he said. “God bless you. Thank you guys so much.”
Someone showed him a photo of his newly constructed right ear.
“That’s not me!” he said, grinning, before turning back to his new arm. “The hand is so good. I can do things with my hand now. I can play basketball or baseball. It’s straight. Before it wasn’t. Now it’s as if nothing happened to me.”
Awomah turned his attention to his new eyelids.
“I can close my eyes!” he said. “I’m very happy now.”
Awomah’s treatment isn’t finished. Reiss said he now has several months of physical therapy with his arm, followed by more surgical work on his arm and face.
“I was dubious we’d be able to make eyelids for him, but we did and they actually work,” Reiss said. “We’ll do at least three or four more surgeries. At the end of January, we’ll start working on his nose.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the city where the foundation working with Awomah is based.
