Saving Sofia

Sofia Guillen says it's painful being a teenager with scoliosis. "They would laugh at me and they would point at me and say look at that girl she looks like a tree trunk walking all stiff." Sofia wore a brace that went from her waist to her chin. She says it was squeezing the life out of her.

All of that changed when Bayside Medical Missions traveled to Sofia's hometown of Porto Viejo, Ecuador. Her family couldn't afford to pay for Sofia's surgery so the mission stepped in to help.

Dr. Paul Fellers and his wife/nurse Flor Fellers knew that Sofia's surgery couldn't be done in Ecuador. So, Sofia and her mom were flown to Alabama and the procedure was done at Providence Hospital in West Mobile. Flor Fellers said it was just meant to be. "This family really rallied around their daughter but in Ecuador, she had no chance. They don't do this kind of surgery there."

Last Tuesday, Dr. Fellers and another orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Tom Dempsey performed the two hours surgery with wires, screws and hooks to straighten Sofia's back.

Sofia finally feels like a regular girl again and believes she will never be the center of negative attention again. "They won't even be looking at me. I'll be a normal person."

We're told that Sofia's surgery, recovery, and therapy could cost as much as 100,000 dollars. The Bayside Medical Mission did it absolutely free.

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