Patrick Te’o, of Magiagi,should count himself lucky.
He is one of more than 20 patients with serious medical problems, who will be flown to Honolulu, Hawaii, for treatment.
The treatment will take place towards the end of the year.
For Patrick, it will be his second time around. All operations are free.
Airfares and accommodation are also covered for patient and caregiver.
This is thanks to a team of doctors and administrators from the Shriners Hospital for Children in Hawaii, who were in the country last week to provide free medical care for the children of Samoa.
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In 2011, he had an operation at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Hawaii. For months, Patrick complained with a sharp pain in his right knee which gradually left him limping on the right side of his foot.
The pain would sometimes spread to his hip.
Mr.Te’o said they took him to Lototaumafai who recommended that they see the Shriners when they came to Samoa. Meanwhile, his knee was beginning to face inwards.
It was then that they corrected the frame of his right knee and also inserted four screws into the left knee so that the weight was shared between both. But recently, during school, a student fell on that same knee. And in a follow up visit last week with the Shriners, Patrick had an x-ray and it was found that the knee joints had opened to a 79 degree angle. This will be corrected in a third operation in Hawaii.
“As a child, he was alright, he was normal,” said Mr.Te’o.
Patrick is the second of five children.
His only wish is for Patrick’s knees are healed so he does not have to rely on someone to get around in the future.
“I’m praying to God that he will be okay,” said Mr.Te’o.
He thanked the Shriners, Mini Matalavea and Lototaumafai for putting Patrick on their priority list.
Without their help, the Te’o family would not have known what to do. Mr Te’o is a taxi driver and his wife stays at home.
While in Samoa, the Shriners saw more than 200 children through clinics conducted at the Motootua National Hospital and the Tuasivi Hospital in Savaii. Shriners also send children needing more complicated surgeries to Hawaii for treatment. Throughout the history of this program, over 25 Samoan children have been blessed to receive medical treatment in Honolulu.
The Shriners worked closely with Samoa’s National Health Service (NHS) to help identify patients that could be helped by Orthopedic Surgery.
They were here to treat children with burns, cleft lips and palates, orthopedic problems, and spinal cord injuries. All of their work is privately funded via private donations in the United States.
Formed in New York in 1870 and now run from Tampa, Florida, the Shriners are a fraternal order dedicated to public service, with almost 200 chapters (or temples) around the world. The group is best known for their red fezzes and their Shriners Hospitals for Children, 22 specialized medical centers that treat certain childhood afflictions without charge.
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