Isa received lifesaving cleft lip surgery. The 7-month-old was barely able to swallow.

NIGERIA – It is a sight no mother wants to see – her newborn baby struggling for life. But for Sa'adatu, every minute was another step closer to her child's death.

Baby Isa was born with a severe double cleft lip deformity that left his face disfigured. Worse, he was barely able to swallow.

"She tried hard to nurse him, but his deformity was so severe he couldn't even swallow water," said Okey Onwudiwe, an OBI Nigeria representative. "His parents could only watch in despair."

Today, Isa is thriving thanks to corrective surgery sponsored by Operation Blessing that came just in time to save his life.

"You mean my baby's lips will be alright after the surgery?" his mother asked again and again.

Each year, approximately one in every 700 infants is born with a cleft lip or palate. The deformity is a result of the lip or palate failing to close during fetal development. It can cause hearing, speech, dental and nutritional problems.  

Each year, approximately one in every 700 infants is born with a cleft lip or palate.

Sa'adatu and her husband are poor peasant farmers who have five other children. In an effort to save their son, the couple did everything in their power to raise extra money for corrective surgery.

However, once they reached the hospital in northern Nigeria, they found out their life savings was not nearly enough to pay for the surgery.

They watched in horror as their 7-month-old grew weaker by the day and malnourishment ate away at his body.

That's when OBI stepped in to help.

"I don't know what to say," Sa'adatu said after she saw what the surgeons had done to help her son. "It is like a dream."

Last year, thanks to donor support of the program, OBI was able to sponsor 785 cleft lip and palate surgeries for children worldwide.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Be a part of OBI's ongoing medical relief efforts by making an online contribution to help those suffering from extreme poverty and sickness.

 

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