But when Mabhena (24) returns home to Zimbabwe this summer, she will carry with her more than gratitude for the Children’s Hospital surgical team. Mabhena, the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary called Music by Prudence, leaves with a lasting attachment to Denver, borne out of the help of so many people who offered time and money for the sake of her health and happiness.
“It is so surprising to find someone who gives his or her love to a stranger who lives 20 000 miles away, on the other side of the world,” said Mabhena, in the hotel suite in South Denver where she has lived, without charge, since she arrived. “I didn’t believe I would get to a place where people have such full love and care.”
Mabhena, who was crippled by a congenital disorder at birth, might have died without surgery. But a series of chance encounters — fostered by her growing popularity as a singer — led her to Denver, where Children’s Hospital staffers donated their pricey time for her benefit. Where a restaurateur dedicated a balance of his life to her well-being. Where a hotel owner gave her a nice place to stay.
Since the range of motion in her arms is minuscule, she has always depended upon people pushing her to get around.
Mabhena’s Denver time has been uplifting, and sometimes even fun. But also rough, with difficult and painful surgeries.
A trip to the Telluride Film Festival introduced her to a doctor who understood right away that she needed surgery, or she might not survive. He had friends at Children’s Hospital. He asked if the hospital could help.
“We feel that we have a responsibility to children throughout the world, where it is a life-threatening condition and our expertise can make a difference,” said Dr Stephen Berman, a Children’s Hospital pediatrician. “If she had been living in the United States, she would have had the surgeries much earlier and that would have enabled her back to be straighter.”
Dr Mark Erickson, a top spine surgeon, performed the procedure earlier this year.
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“Her way to interact with the world is to sit, because she can’t walk. She can move her shoulders a bit. Not her elbows. Her hips don’t move at all,” Erickson said. “Our goal was to get her positioned so her pelvis is level, so her spine comes up as straight as possible. So she can be more up, rather than leaning over to the side all day long.”
The scoliosis in her spine was at 100 degrees.
“Normally, it’s zero,” Erickson said. “What we see in kids that are untreated is that the curves get to a point where they have trouble sitting because it hurts too much. So they spend more time lying down. Now all Prudence has is sitting and lying down.”
The first surgery, on her spine, took five hours. Erickson placed rods and screws in her back to keep her spine straight. The hip operation, a few weeks later, took three hours. In that procedure, Erickson made it easier for Mabhena to sit on her hips.
