Samuel Ozimede is a very special little boy, his tribal name – Otsemobor –means gift from God and his mother, Mofe, cares for him as the most precious treasure. Samuel was born prematurely at 29 weeks and due to complications at birth has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. His condition affects his limbs, his hearing and his sight- but not his mind. This loving and intelligent two year old is frustrated by the limitations of his body and his family will stop at nothing to give him the best opportunities in life. Samuel lives with his mother and sister in the southern coastal city of Port Harcourt in Nigeria's oil rich River State which is notorious for militant gangs and corruption.

His father works all the way in Uganda as an engineer in order to raise enough money to cover Samuel's medical bills, while Mofe has given up her career as an economist to care full-time for their son. The family is apart for three out of four weeks a month but this is a sacrifice these dedicated parents readily make for their son.

Mofe had a difficult pregnancy, she was so happy and relieved when Samuel was born. However four months later she realised that he was not like other babies as he kept stretching his arms and legs in an unusual manner and he cried a lot. She took him to her local hospital who told her not to worry and that he would grow out of it. Mofe worried that he was missing his developmental milestones so took him to the Lagos Teaching Hospital where he had a CT Scan and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Samuel is at his happiest when his mother bakes. He loves the smells and the taste of the cakes. He spends long hours playing with his toys but gets frustrated sometimes when they move too far away from him as he cannot see or reach for them.

Samuel has been attending weekly physiotherapy to help him learn to walk and relieve pain. He also attends the Joy Eye Care Vision Rehabilitation Centre in Port Harcourt to help him make the most of his limited vision. It was here that he met ORBIS volunteer ophthalmologist and low vision specialist, Dr. Linda Lawrence, who instantly took up his cause and convinced his mother to bring him to Ilorin in a few weeks to meet the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital team during their programme. She explains: ‘Samuel has esotropia which is a form of strabismus, in which one or both eyes turns inward, this causes a cross fixation so he can't see through the mid-line to his toys, food and his mommy's face.' She goes on to explain the impact of his strabismus surgery is far deeper than cosmetically aligning his eyes; it is the gateway to opening up his world. ‘Samuel has multiple disabilities, the surgery is so important for his development because his whole world is right in front of him, now that he can see he can interact with it'.

Mofe and Samuel travelled over ten hours on a bus to meet the ORBIS team, a journey that is incredibly challenging with a child such as Samuel. When Dr. Itay Ben-Zion, ORBIS volunteer paediatric ophthalmologist, met Samuel and his mother he too instantly took up the cause: ‘When you see the mother and child together you can tell so much about the family. You can really see they are supporting the child so nicely, you really want to help them, on an emotional level, it is not scientific.' Dr. Ben-Zion further explained that Samuel's world is very limited as he also has hearing and mobility difficulties, the strabismus surgery will drastically improve his sight so he can get much needed stimulation which will greatly improve his quality of life. This will help him interact in his world and possibly even assist him learn to walk one day. The day of the strabismus surgery was very traumatic for Mofe as she saw her son be taken into surgery and the unknown. But she takes great strength in her faith and believes that miracles happen every day, she has been praying for relief for her boy. Fortunately, surgery went very well and there were not complications.

Dr. Lawrence joined Dr. Ben-Zion in Samuel's post operation examination and she marvelled, ‘we noticed immediately the next day after surgery that Samuel was smiling and able to reach for toys in the midline. By just getting his eyes straight he has made tremendous advancements in his development. There is a still lot of work to be done to assist him with his hearing and mobility but this is an incredibly positive step to improve his ability to get the best from his potential.' Mofe and Samuel left Ilorin with happy hearts and a plan for his ongoing rehabilitation. His father returned from Uganda for the weekend, when he finally got home Samuel was able to look into his father's eyes for the first time!