Ethiopian girl receives hope with foot reconstruction

By Barb Smith
July 27, 2006

Left badly deformed and disabled she faced a bleak future in a country that shuns those with disabilities. Her luck changed when she was chosen to be a student at a school in Ethiopia run by a Utah organization that educates girls called The Children of Ethiopia Education Fund.

When the founder of the fund, Norm Perdue, stopped by the school for a routine visit he noticed Fortuna was not walking normally. When he asked her to remove her shoes and socks he was shocked at what he saw a foot that was mangled that it took his breath away.

When he returned home, he contacted Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake. Doctors here looked at pictures of Fortuna and were hopeful they could restore normalcy and give Fortuna a better life. But, children of Ethiopia Education Fund had to get her here. COEEF worked diligently for seven months to obtain necessary paperwork and funding for Fortuna's trip.

Today that effort paid off. She was at Shriners Hospital where doctors evaluated her condition and scheduled surgery. Shriners Hospital for Children is a specialty facility that heals children with burns or orthopedic injury at no charge.

Fortuna will be in the Utah for the next nine months undergoing surgery. Her first is scheduled mid-August. Doctors say her prognosis is good and that when she returns home to her village her foot will be functioning normally, and will no longer cause people to gasp when she removes her shoes.

For more information on Shriners Hospital for Children call: 536-3600. For more information on the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund visit: www.coeef.org.