My leg, I hope I can keep it
Weeks ago, one of our drivers developed serious swelling in one of his legs. I didn't see it but they said it extended from mid-thigh all the way down to his foot. It was impressively large and quite painful.
After consultations with other employees and neighbors, it was decided that he was the victim of a curse and a traditional doctor was consulted. This man came highly reputed as he said he had successfully treated in excess of 15 such cases in the past.
The traditional doctor made a series of cuts in the leg and squeezed out a lot of fluid, after which he inserted bits of plant matter into the cuts.
The swelling receded but an infection set in that eventually developed into gas gangrene. The smell was so bad our driver was transferred from the clinic he was in to the general hospital. He came very close to losing his leg. That danger is passed now and his spirit is good. For the longest time he was convinced the curse was too strong and that he would die.
He will have been in the hospital for almost two months by the time he gets out. The course of antibiotic treatment has been long. I described the symptoms to two docs I know and one opined that the original malady was some kind of bacterial infection. The other suspected DVT, deep vein thrombosis. Neither of them suspected witchcraft, as most of our employees are convinced it was.
After consultations with other employees and neighbors, it was decided that he was the victim of a curse and a traditional doctor was consulted. This man came highly reputed as he said he had successfully treated in excess of 15 such cases in the past.
The traditional doctor made a series of cuts in the leg and squeezed out a lot of fluid, after which he inserted bits of plant matter into the cuts.
The swelling receded but an infection set in that eventually developed into gas gangrene. The smell was so bad our driver was transferred from the clinic he was in to the general hospital. He came very close to losing his leg. That danger is passed now and his spirit is good. For the longest time he was convinced the curse was too strong and that he would die.
He will have been in the hospital for almost two months by the time he gets out. The course of antibiotic treatment has been long. I described the symptoms to two docs I know and one opined that the original malady was some kind of bacterial infection. The other suspected DVT, deep vein thrombosis. Neither of them suspected witchcraft, as most of our employees are convinced it was.
posted by Carl at 5:24 AM
2 Comments:
It's interesting that we so easily dismiss witchcraft, but that it's so strongly implanted in Kinshasa and DR Congo as an explanation for misfortune. I'm just glad that he got care that afforded him a cure.
I find the belief in witchcraft and witchdoctors fascinating. I wonder why he chose a conventional doctor for treatment if he believed he was suffering from a curse. It is an interesting mix of traditional beliefs with a good dose of the western belief in science, although I would expecct in that case that he would have consulted both a conventional doctor and a witchdoctor?
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