Congolese Boy Disfigured By Chimps Set For Reconstructive Surgery in New York

A now 8-year-old boy, Dunia Sibomana, from the Democratic republic of Congo is lucky to be alive. About two years back, a group of chimpanzees had reportedly jumped from the trees and attacked him and two other boys as they played near a preserve in Congo, DailyMail reports. While the other two boys, Dunia’s four-year-old brother and a young cousin, were killed by the attacking apes, he survived albeit with injuries which left the young boy disfigured.

Dunia’s lips were ripped off and one cheek torn apart, leaving him with muscle damage that makes it hard for him to eat, swallow and communicate.

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The young boy is now set to undergo a rare and complicated surgery at a Long Island hospital in New York that will use tissue and muscle from his forearm to recreate both lips. The hope is that he will once again be able to open and close his mouth, and eat and talk normally. Dr. Leon Klempner, an associate professor of dentistry at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, where Dunia will undergo the operation, said:

‘As you can imagine, not having any lips, the food can just come right out. He drools all the time and can’t pronounce different words.’

The planned eight-hour procedure will be the first of three major operations for Dunia, who was brought from the Congo in November with the help of the non-profit foundation, ‘Smile Rescue for Kids.’ Dr. Alexander Dagum, the hospital’s chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery, said he believes there are only three other documented cases where the same surgery has been performed.

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The hospital is reportedly covering the cost of the surgery and the doctors have all donated their time. In his short time in the United States, he has been living with a host family on Long Island, attending elementary school and learning English in addition to his native Swahili. Klempner reportedly said,

‘We’re feeling very optimistic. We’re hoping after the surgery he’ll reintegrate into society and perhaps go back to school or have some semblance of a normal life.’