Recovering From a Tragic Accident, Thanks to Safe Surgical Care

It was just another day, like any other, when an explosion from a gas leak forever changed Gladys’s life.

Just 21 -years old at the time, she was pregnant with her second child and looking forward to welcoming her new baby into the world when the accident happened. Though she received care immediately at an Operation Smile partner hospital in Antananarivo, Madagascar, it wasn’t until a year later that she was able to receive specialized l surgery to treat the damage to her skin. 

The first step in her recovery journey involved weeks of treatment and physical therapy. After giving birth to her baby boy, Fitahiana, Gladys was determined to recover and was referred to Operation Smile volunteer surgeons. The first surgery she received was a skin graft to help rebuild her eyelids. Next, another procedure helped restore movement to her neck.

The care Gladys received is an example of how Operation 100, our commitment to bringing care closer to home, benefits whole communities. We are helping to train surgical teams who treat not only patients with cleft conditions, but anyone in the community in need of care — patients like Gladys.

Madagascar faces a critical shortage of medical providers in rural areas, with many doctors migrating to urban centers in search of better-paying jobs. At the national level, there is only one specialist surgical worker per 100,000 people, which falls short of the Lancet Commission’s minimum target of 20 providers per 100,000. It’s a place where one can see Operation 100 coming to life.

Today, Gladys is working at a new job. She credits becoming a mom to giving her the strength to keep moving forward, and Operation Smile’s medical volunteers for helping build back her hope and her smile.