A New York hospital has chosen to take up the cause of an 8-year-old boy from the DR Congo, who was attacked by Chimpanzees. The boy named Dunia Sibomana, is to undergo a rare double-lip reconstruction to restore his lips, after they were torn of, during the attack two years ago.
Doctors at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital on Long Island will perform the first of several surgeries on Dunia Sibomana on Monday. The goal will be to restore functioning lips that will improve his speech and stop constant drooling.
Taunts from other children drove Sibomana from school in his village bordering Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was brought to the United States six weeks ago by Smile Rescue Fund for Kids ,which helped arrange the surgery donated by the hospital and its doctors. Sibomana would be the youngest recipient of a double lip reconstruction. The two other known cases involved adults.
Park rangers in Democratic Republic of Congo are still searching for Sibomana’s older cousin, who was part of a group of children attacked by the chimpanzees. They believe he may have been killed in the attack or so severely disfigured that he chose to hide from friends and family, officials said. Sibomana’s younger brother was killed in the attack.
