Today, he is at Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston, where a team of doctors is attempting to give him a new life and a functioning face.
“Where he came from, he was dead; he was left in the hospital,’’ said Jim Scheller, an American contractor working on water wells in Haiti who has been helping Dieuphete’s family. “But we got him here in one piece, so we think he’ll be a survivor.’’
In Haiti, there was little that doctors could do for Dieuphete, except keep his wounds clean and change his bandages. But determined caregivers reached out to a team at Shriners, which agreed to provide thousands of dollars in medical care without charge.
As the months dragged on in Haiti, Dieuphete’s body, working to save itself, tried to close open burn wounds by contracting his face, mouth, and neck. This has made eating difficult.
His eyelids have contracted to the point where he cannot blink. He will need surgery on at least one eye to repair cornea damage.
“I am hopeful that we can help make him better,’’ said Dr. Rob Sheridan, assistant chief of staff at Shriners Boston and a burn specialist. “I don’t know if we can make him perfect, but we can give him a much better life than he has now. A lot of it depends on his vision.’’
The team started examining Dieuphete immediately after he arrived earlier this week. The first steps, according to Sheridan, are to clean his wounds and test for infection. Then doctors will conduct a nutritional assessment; proper diet helps the healing process, Sheridan said. Late this week, an ophthalmologist will give Dieuphete an eye exam and determine how much damage has been done.
“He appears to have some right-eye cornea calcification, but that can be fixed,’’ Sheridan said.
By early next week, Dieuphete will undergo about a half day of surgery to reverse the body contractions. He will also need skin grafts.
The contractions have raised the possibility that it will be difficult to access his airway for surgery. Sheridan has called in two anesthesiologists.
