Saving lives – and limbs – on the DRC/CAR border

Shot in the leg by members of the Séléka militia troops, with a bullet that shattered her tibia, passed through her body and grazed her 14-year-old sister, Justine (30) fled across the Oubangui river to escape the ongoing violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) river and seek humanitarian aid in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Doctors at the Kinshasa hospital she was taken to at first feared that they would have to amputate the leg but in the end they were able to save it.

Justine is one of the many victims of the war, but her story has a promising ending. While fleeing gunfire in the CAR, Justine was hit on the leg. It was feared it would have to be amputated, but doctors at St Joseph’s hospital in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said they would be able to save her leg.

The sisters suffered a harrowing ideal, and yet they are among the lucky ones in this conflict zone.

Negotiations between the CAR’s government and militia groups deadlocked last week, leaving civilians caught in the conflict to flee or be caught in the crossfire.

– Featured pic: By UNHCR via Facebook.