Four-year-old Joel from Lospalos, Timor-Leste, arrived in Sydney with his father Cireneu at the end of April 2025 for specialist treatment at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead to remove a tumour in his left eye, which was potentially life-threatening if left to grow.
The little boy attended a series of specialist appointments and had an MRI under general anaesthetic. His medical team determined that surgery was necessary to remove the tumour and, sadly, this would mean the removal of Joel’s left eye.
Joel successfully underwent his surgery on 7 May in the expert care of the team at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, including Paediatric Ophthalmologist and Eye Surgeon Dr Michael Jones and Paediatric Oncologist Dr Luciano Dalla-Pozza.
He was fitted with a temporary eye implant to maintain the shape and volume of his eye socket, and spent several days recovering in hospital.
After medical clearance, Joel and Cireneu flew home to Timor-Leste on 15 May and Joel received his permanent eye prosthesis in Dili.
Three-year-old Melenaite from Tonga arrived back in Australia in September for more follow-up treatment.
Near death, baby Ken was flown to New Zealand for surgery. ROMAC volunteers and medical staff pulled out all stops to save his life.
When Haggai was born, her parents were horrified to see her disfigurement. Look at her now.
Any donation you can make will help make treatment like this possible.
