By Gloria Nakajubi
Unlike other teenagers her age, Rehemah Nambasa’s school life was put on hold owing to persistent backache and partial paralysis that started in 2010. She has since been surviving on painkillers and could hardly walk unsupported. After visiting a number of health facilities with no apparent solution, the family was on the verge of giving up.
Now Nambasa is currently recovering after a seven-hour operation carried out on Monday. She is one of the 30 patients that were lined up for this year’s neuro-surgical camp at Mulago National Referral Hospital in collaboration with a team from the Duke University in the US. 
According to consultant neurosurgeon, Michael Muhumuza, Nambasa had a complex case of a tumour in the spinal cord. Eugene Arinaitwe, a resident of Entebbe is the other patient that has so far been operated and says it is a miracle since he had been asked to start looking for about sh70m for surgery abroad. He was diagnosed with a tumour at the back of the neck which was creating pressure on the nerves hence the continued numbness in his arms and legs.