Save JJ’s Leg

This is the story of Aniceto Tavares also known as JJ by those who know and love him.

Seventeen years ago he was on a ride on his beloved motorcycle with a few of his close friends. What started as a beautiful morning ride, through the winding roads of the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, turned quickly into a nightmare that JJ has been living since then.

As JJ and his friends approached an intersection, he was T-boned by a drunk man in a Mercedes Benz. He was taken to the hospital with a broken leg, which was immediately diagnosed as shattered tibia and the tedious process of putting his leg together started.

Multiple operations, beyond limit suffering and JJ’s tibia not healing at all left him with an open wound exposing a bare bone with a sign of infection. He was eventually diagnosed with osteomyelitis and recently chronic osteomyelitis.

All those complications lead to a double pulmonary emboli, as if the open, infected sinus on his leg wasn’t enough.

Hospitals in Zimbabwe couldn’t help JJ because of many issues like old equipment, lack of proper medications and poorly trained specialists, and extremely high costs of treatment with no guarantees for improvement given.

Since that accident, JJ has been living in constant and excruciating pain, where he irrigates his open wound with hydroperoxide and diluted ethanol in order to keep it clean and stop osteomyelitis from spreading to other parts of his leg. His ability to move freely and walk is also weakened as he needs to wear thick dressing and customised brace to support his leg and protect it from even a slight touch or even worse, an accidental hit.

During his short visit to UEA earlier this year, to see his step grandchildren, he was taken by his step daughter-in-law to a hospital to examine his leg. This is when he was told by a doctor that even if he keeps the wound clean, infected and partially dead bone, will give in and the only option would be amputation. He was also told that he didn’t have much time to wait.

After few visits to different doctors and learning about his options, he finally met a specialist surgeon, who after a thorough examination and consulting fellow orthopedic surgeons proposed a treatment plan, with a very real chance to save his leg.

The infection, thanks to JJ keeping it clean, hasn’t spread to other parts of the leg, so the possibility of complete healing is a very high.

It is a very lengthy and costly process. Doctors estimated the whole treatment at about 63000$ (estimate in United Arab Emirates Dirhams AED below).

JJ, even with the help from the family, can’t afford paying for this treatment, even though it is already a hugely discounted price as part of the treatment will take place in India to save cost.

Apart from the cost of the treatment there will also come a cost of living for 6-8 months without an income, because during the treatment he won’t be able to work, being immobilised for up to a month at a time.

JJ runs a small mechanical workshop in Harare, and you could think that a great mechanic like him should be a millionaire. He definitely would, if he didn’t help everyone, especially those in difficult financial situation, which unfortunately is too common in Zimbabwe.

JJ never turned from anyone who needed help, family, friends, complete strangers, this is who he is.

Please donate to his cause so that he may return to a normal, painless life.

Thank you

JJ’s family

NOTE:

Due to banking restrictions in home country (Zimbabwe), the campaign account is set in UAE (son and daughter in law - Roger and Ewa Ledeboer).