Buruhan

Dwarfism, Knock Knees Uganda Dr. Herzenberg
One of the thirty patients who benefitted from Dr. Herzenberg’s Team Sinai mission trips to Uganda is Buruhan, a now sixteen-year-old boy with a dwarfing condition that made his legs grow into an extreme knock-knee position. Jackie Grant, pictured with Buruhan, is a member of a California nonprofit organization called Buyamba (the Ugandan word for “Help”). The organization works to help educate children in Uganda, and Buruhan is a student in their God Cares school. She learned Dr. Herzenberg would be leading a mission trip to Uganda in 2016 and successfully advocated for the team to help Buruhan because Ugandan doctors could not perform the surgeries he required.

In 2016, the mission team operated on Buruhan’s left leg. His leg was gradually straightened over time with an external fixator. In January 2018, they did a minor surgery on the left leg and then performed a procedure to correct his right leg. The external fixator’s correction must be gradual to prevent damage to the peroneal nerve, a branch of the sciatic nerve, which supplies movement and sensation to the lower leg, foot and toes. The team looks forward to the day that Buruhan will hopefully be able to walk independently without crutches.

While Dr. Herzenberg has retired from providing patient care, Dr. Philip McClure is available to treat these conditions.