Congenital Facial Lymphangioma: Emmanuel’s Surgery Aboard the Global Mercy in Freetown

Emmanuel was born in Sierra Leone with a small swelling near his ear. His mother, Manteneh, first tried to soothe it with warm compresses. The lump did not recede. By the age of three it had grown into a large mass that distorted one side of his face and caused constant pain.

Doctors diagnosed a lymphangioma, a rare, noncancerous abnormality of the lymphatic system that often appears after birth. Local hospitals could offer little more than painkillers. Sierra Leone had no practicing maxillofacial surgeons at the time. Emmanuel’s father, Yirah, put his university studies aside so the family could search for care. His mother, a tailor, also stopped working.

After hearing that Mercy Ships’ hospital vessel Global Mercy would dock in Freetown, the family moved to the capital in 2023 and waited for treatment. Volunteer maxillofacial teams prepared the lesion with injections to harden the tissue, then removed the growth in April 2024. Surgeons worked to take out the mass while protecting nearby structures, including branches of the facial nerve that control movement.

Emmanuel left the operating room with the bulk of the malformation gone. As postoperative swelling eased, his facial contour returned and he could play again with other children, including soccer, without the stigma that had followed the family for years. His parents described the change as like receiving their son anew.

The case illustrates both the burden of untreated congenital facial conditions in settings without specialist surgery and the role of volunteer reconstructive care when national capacity is limited.

Source: Mercy Ships patient profile “Meet Emmanuel” / “A New Gift: Hope for Emmanuel,” Global Mercy field service in Freetown, Sierra Leone (2023–2024); additional reporting via Mercy Ships Africa and SWNS.