Johannesburg - They emerged from the theatre, their faces giving nothing away.
The tension in the foyer of Netcare Garden City Hospital, crowded by journalists, photographers, medical staff and onlookers, was palpable.
This was the moment everyone who had been at the hospital since 4pm on Thursday was waiting for – and then there it was: a smile on the faces of the mother and father of five-year-old Celiwe Maseko.
“We kept our fingers crossed the whole time, hoping the process would go smoothly. We are very, very happy,” Celiwe’s father, Brown, said.
The mood in the room lifted instantly.
Celiwe had been in surgery for one-and-a-half hours as doctors performed life-changing surgery on the young burn victim.
On January 4, Celiwe had been playing with a friend in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, when her friend threw a lit match on her. Her dress caught fire. She ran back home, and as she did so, a neighbour saw her, grabbed her and put her under a running tap.
But Celiwe had already sustained third-degree burns over 35 percent of her body.
It has been 106 days since the incident. She has already undergone 18 operations and is the second girl in Africa to undergo the procedure, which also helped to save the life of Isabella “Pippie” Kruger last year.
Her cloned skin had arrived at the hospital at 6.20pm after being dropped off at OR Tambo International Airport by a courier travelling from Boston in the US.
Timing was critical – as soon as the skin arrived, it was rushed to the theatre by the Netcare 911 team and by the local head of Genzyme (the company that grew the skin), Dr Alan Barrett, for surgery to begin immediately. Celiwe had already been sedated and prepped by the medical team led by Dr Ridwan Mia.
Doctors used 14 out of the 15 pieces of skin that had been cloned in a lab in Boston, lifting each piece from a nutritive pink solution with forceps and placing it over Celiwe’s wounds.
It was cloned from two biopsies from her skin, which were grown over more than two weeks at the lab.
“We had a bit of difficulty in small areas but overall it was a smooth operation and a good procedure,” said Mia, who was visibly tired from the operation.
“In one week we will take a look at her again. We’ll keep Celiwe sedated over the week as it’s important that she does not move. Minimal visitors will be allowed as she’ll be in an isolation room, and we just hope the skin grafts will take.”
Celiwe’s surgery was funded by the Pippie Gesiggie Foundation, set up by Pippie’s mother Anice from donations she received for Pippie’s surgery.
The Star