Zambia: A nurse in Livingstone, Southern Province, has donated 60 adult and 60 Paediatric Ileostomy and Colostomy bags to Livingstone University Teaching Hospital. The donation also included a number of other medical necessities that the organization needed.
The donor of the Ileostomy and Colostomy bags has shared that he understands the sense of urgency around the donation. People in the hospital would be able to use his donated items to lead a more comfortable life, during and after treatment.
The Ileostomy and Colostomy bags are crucial for the lifelong survival of many patients. According to health stakeholders many patients will benefit from the donation made by the nurse.
Thelma Banda, a Registered Operating Theatre Nurse at Dambwa Central Mini Hospital, is a mother to a son who was diagnosed with Hirshprungs disease, a condition that restricted him from passing stool.
As per the official reports, her son who is now 4 years old, could not pass stool in the first 48 hours of life, and underwent a successful surgery called ‘Pull Through’ at three weeks of age at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka.
Nurse Banda explains that her motivation to make the donation comes from the experience she had with her son’s condition during the their stay at UTH. During the treatment run, she realised how difficult it was to find ileostomy and colostomy bags, hence her decision to donate what was left to mothers and adults leaving with condition at Livingstone University Teaching Hospital.
Colostomy bags are basically bags that are used to collect stool after the surgical procedure of the condition. The bags helped her child and inspired her to help other patients in a similar manner.
Furthermore, Nurse Banda has encouraged mothers not to give up, but always seek medical advise when their children are unwell.
While making the donation of the medical supplies, Nurse Banda was supported by Stoma Care Zambia, and Musiotunya Rotary Club of Livingstone that also donated hampers to valentine babies to the health facility.