disfigured.
The extent of Charlie’s injuries is tough for most to imagine. Justice had
been done to Kabi, but Charlie wasn’t whole. Not by a far reach. There
would be many challenges ahead for him. Charlie would never be able to
be a father when he grew up because of the body parts he lost. At some
point, Charlie’s friends would no doubt find out about his disfigurement
and tease him as well. He would have extensive mental and emotional
healing to do in addition to the physical.
At home in San Diego, the telephone rang and I answered. The voice
on the other side said, “Bob, you don’t know me, but my name is Randy. I
heard what happened to the kid in Uganda. I want you to know
something.. .” There was a pause as I leaned into the phone. I could feel
Randy’s seriousness.
“I can fix him,” he said.
His words hung in the airwaves.
I was polite with this stranger over the telephone but was thinking,
Buddy, you don’t understand about all the things that were cut off. You
can’t fix that. Sensing this, Randy continued, “I’m a surgeon at Cedars-
Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Really, I can fix him.”
I drove to Los Angeles, and we met at a restaurant with my friend
Don. Randy started drawing on a napkin what he was going to do to
replace the numerous body parts Charlie had lost. Even on a napkin, it
was way too much information. If they find that napkin the next time I’m
going through security at the airport, I’ll go to jail.
Randy explained how he would take parts from Charlie’s leg and from
his arm and make some new parts, but there was a caveat. Randy
explained how even the best surgeons can only do so much. After the
surgery, while Charlie wouldn’t run the risk of being teased because some
of what he lost could be replaced, he would still lack what was necessary