The holidays came early for Victor Ngatia, a six-year-old with a megawatt smile.
After a harrowing journey from the impoverished town of Kamulu, Kenya to the seaside town of Malibu, the young Kenyan refugee is recovering peacefully from a successful surgery two weeks ago to repair his bladder function and has been reunited with his mother after a four-month separation.
“We are so grateful…for [Victor] to have the hope of a new life,” said Pepperdine Registrar Hung Le in an email, whose family took in Victor the past few months as he prepared to undergo surgery.
Victor was born with a congenital deformity making it impossible for him to empty his bladder normally. Dr. Andrew Freedman, a renowned pediatric urologist at Cedars Sinai, performed the surgery and told Le it went “perfectly.”
As Dr. Freedman prepped Victor for surgery, he told him, “This is a really special day!”
Victor flashed his signature dimpled smile, Le said.
He spent six hours in the operating room during which Dr. Freedman removed a nonfunctioning kidney, converted Victor’s appendix into a catheter “port” to close up urinary seepage and constructed a small bladder “pouch” out of Victor’s small intestine where urine from his newly reconstructed tract will go.
His mother, Nancy Nduta, is a single mom who works for a nonprofit called Made in the Streets. The organization rescues poor children from Nairobi, educates them for a trade (tailoring, jewelry-making, catering and woodshop) and gives them an opportunity at life—employed, literate and free from drugs and poverty.
Le, his wife and children met Victor’s mother through the Made in the Streets program during a trip to Nairobi two years ago. During a subsequent trip, Le found out about the boy’s condition and worked to get Victor the help he needed. With just a 10 by 10-foot room and bunk bed to call home and a $9 per month income, Nancy, Victor and Victor’s older brother and sister had no way of getting permanent help.
“[Nancy] tells the story of when Victor was so sick as a baby and she was at a complete loss with what to do. She was desperate, and her heart just ached watching her baby cry in pain. A friend told her about some ‘mzungus,’ or white people, who were rescuing street children. They told her that perhaps these mzungus could help,” Le said.
The Les remembered reading about Mending Kids International, a global nonprofit that provides life-saving medical care for seriously ill children all over the world. Le and Corinne applied for a grant and, with contributions of locals like Gene Simmons, Tom Shadyac, and Mikke and Maggie Pierson, Victor was accepted.
After a tough battle to secure Victor’s visa in the U.S., he finally arrived in Malibu in July and enrolled at Webster Elementary School while staying with the Les at Pepperdine.
During his time in Malibu, Victor developed a love of tennis, soccer, sand castles and ice cream. Now, it’s on to the next chapter.
The procedure requires several weeks of recovery. His mother Nancy is currently learning how to care for Victor in this new phase of his young life. Victor will no longer have to wear diapers and can use a catheter to empty his new bladder.
The successful results have been surreal for Nancy.
“I have never dreamed anything this big!” she said.
Nancy and Victor are scheduled to return to Kenya on Jan. 14, 2014.
Melonie Magruder contributed to this story.
