What Life-Changing Surgery Looks Like: Bahiya's Story

Swisscross Orthopedic surgeons, Dr Sarkhell Radha and Dr Ahmed Berzenji sit with Bahiya post-op to see her miraculous progress in only two months.

Bahiya sat with the two orthopedic surgeons who have changed her life, telling them: “I don’t believe that I can walk again.”

A mother of two young daughters, who was displaced with her family from Mosul following the occupation of the city by Isis, Bahiya has struggled to get out of bed for almost three years

Bed-bound with excruciating hip pain and unable to support herself and her two daughters, Bahiya has spent the last few years from doctor to doctor to diagnose the cause of her pain

She was told she had rheumatic arthritis and underwent almost two years of treatment locally, taking a variation of rheumatoid drugs.

She said: “I had been to so many doctors, whenever they would see me, they would say it's rheumatoid arthritis…Every month I used to get medication for rheumatoid arthritis.” 

However the medication was not helping Bahiya and instead made her tired, and providing her with little pain relief.

She was eventually told she needed surgery, which would cost her $6,500. 

She said: “They told me it costs me about 8 million Iraqi dinars (IQD). and I could not afford that amount.”

Unable to work as a tailor, which she had done successfully for years, Bahiya was forced to rely on her daughters who began working farming fields.

In March 2023 she was referred to the Swisscross Centre of Excellence for Complex Care, based at Zheen International Hospital in Erbil, where she was diagnosed with avascular necrosis AVN  - a disease that results from the temporary or permanent loss of blood supply to the bone. 

Two months ago our distinguished orthopedic surgeons, Dr Sarkhell Radha and Dr Ahmed Berzenji provided a total hip replacement, inextricably changing the trajectory of Bahiya’s life.

Today Bahiya is pain free and fully independent: “I am completely fine. I have no issues doing any movement…thanks to Allah and to you I am in a great condition and my leg is very good, and it's in such a short time.
“Sometimes I am afraid to move and walk and I don’t believe that I can walk again and think I might jinx it!”

Since her surgery she has returned to working as a tailor and is once again supporting herself and her children.

To support Swisscross in providing life-changing surgeries to mothers like Bahiya, please consider donating here.

VIDEO & TRANSLATION BY: Dr Sarezh Saber, Swisscross Foundation Field Officer.