Masiray Kamara was born with a congenital kyphoscoliosis, which meant that as she continued to grow, her spine would both twist along its length and bend forward at a point in the middle of her back. By age 9, Masiray was already paralyzed to the point that she could no longer stand on her own without support or without leaning against a wall. Her condition was on track to worsen as she experienced growing spurts throughout adolescence, causing her spine to twist further and leaving her totally disabled.
In January, 2018, Africa Surgery sent Masiray to Accra, Ghana, where she spent several months in a halo- traction device at the hospital of the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine (FOCOS) (website: www.orthofocos.org). Masiray then underwent surgery at the FOCOS hospital to straighten and stabilize her spine with implants. She returned to Freetown, Sierra Leone on August 4, 2018. Masiray is again living with her family and will begin attending school for the first time now that her paralysis has been arrested, and her ability to stand and to walk has been restored.