On May 17th, a mother in great distress came to the clinic with her baby daughter wrapped in a bedsheet. This mom had been cooking fried rice on her little electric skillet when the pan got knocked over and fell on 2 year old Alondra, who was playing on the floor. [These types of accidents are not uncommon due to the cramped spaces the poor have to live in. Often cooking is done on an electric griddle in the main, or only, room in the house.] Immediately Alondra’s uncle grabbed the child out of the way, but the damage had already been done. The toddler was severely burned with the hot oil and rice.
When I examined her, she had second and third degree burns with large blisters and pustules. She also had three large lesions from burns on her lower abdomen. When the doctor came in and saw the condition of the child, she didn’t know what to do. Not having the necessary equipment or resources needed in our simple rural clinic, all we could do was give the mom a cream to apply to the burns and some vitamins to boost the child’s immune system. The main concern we had was that the wounds would get infected. Due to their terrible living conditions, the people we treat are very prone to infections. One of our prayer teams prayed for healing for little Alondra, then her mom took her home.
Back they came exactly one week later on May 24th. When I went to examine the baby’s back, it was completely healed! It appeared as if she had a smooth, pink sheet on her back – no wrinkles, not a sign of a blister. It was beautiful! When the doctor came in, she could not believe her eyes. Totally amazed, she queried, “How could she have healed so quickly? It’s only been a week!” The area on Alondra’s stomach that had been burned had scabbed over and was drying up. She was not in any pain and had no sign of infection anywhere. So, joyfully, we sent them home, giving the mother precautions against exposing the child to any sunlight.
I feel that it was a miracle. Some time ago I fell and got a tiny wound on my leg; and even though I am a nurse and took care of it, it still got infected! Here this little girl, living in extreme poverty and covered with very serious burns, contracted no infection whatsoever.
Aurora concluded, "They are the forgotten people of the world, but God does not forget them."
