This is a story of “if you ask, you shall receive,” and how we all received some extra joy from this young woman’s turnaround in her quality of life.
It started with a simple conversation and a lucky coincidence. In the last week of January, Ed Correia told his physical therapy patient Stacy that she would have to work with another therapist while he was away on a trip. When Stacy asked where Ed was going, he told her about the medical mission trip to Cambodia. Stacy took a great interest in this because her in-laws have been missionaries in Phnom Penh for over 20 years. Bit of an understatement: Sou and Ted Olbrich, are the founders of , which cares for 2,400+ separated or orphaned children in Cambodia. Through Sou and Ted’s initiative, thousands of orphans have been cared for, loved and educated through the FCOP International’s ministry.
Stacy mentioned that she had recently been on a mission trip to Cambodia with her family, working with FCOP International. She brought to our attention that a young girl named Dany was in need of hip surgery. “This is a long shot,” she said and asked if there was any way that the Cornerstone Foundation team could provide care for her during our visit. The answer was yes!
About 7 years ago, representatives of FCOP International helped to get Dany out of a house with an abusive stepfather. In Cambodian culture, stepchildren can be treated very poorly, frequently like a servant instead of a son or daughter. When she was only 11 years old, her stepfather got angry with her, and pushed her off the roof of their house on stilts, which meant that she fell down two stories to the ground suffering multiple injuries including a broken hip.
Someone in her local village took her out of her home at her mother’s request, because her mother feared for her safety in the presence of the stepfather, but the mother stayed at the home. At this young age, Dany had a broken hip, infections at the injury site and tuberculosis of the bones. The free children’s hospital completed a surgery to clean the hip joint, but the hardware failed and she has walked with a painful limp for the 7 years since. She also walked with a bent leg, stepping on only her toe, instead of using her whole leg and foot.
Despite her pain and difficulty in walking, Dany goes to school now. Even though she is 18 years old, she is in the 8th grade because she is catching up on the school she missed during the difficult years in her step-father’s home.
Dany loves to perform traditional Cambodian dances, but she can do only certain dances and then only in pain. Once she gets through her hip repair, she dreams of playing sports and dancing all of the dances that she cannot perform right now with her hip injury. Her goal is to be a lead dancer and even a singer in the worship team at her church.
Her treatment with the Cornerstone Foundation team started with Ed Correia (whom we have to thank for this entire experience). Prior to surgery, he gave her physical therapy instructions so that she can go into the surgery prepared and come out of it stronger.
Dr. Ian Weber performed a total hip replacement on Dany. Later that same day, he assisted and coached her as she walked her first even steps in seven years using her new hip, evened-out legs and both feet flat on the ground!
The team rejoiced in Dany’s successful outcome and cheered her as she walked. Dany lives with a loving foster family thanks to FCOP International. This family, a local physician and a pastor are providing her post-surgical care and facilitating her physical therapy.