LEO'S STORY

Thanks to help — and a lot of love — from a young missionary Coeur d’Alene couple and many others, 4-year-old Eastern African boy has a chance at a healthier life

COEUR d’ALENE — A living, breathing, miracle was playing on the jungle gym at McEuen Park on Friday morning.

His name is Leo and if not for the severe burns on his face, he would have appeared to any onlooker like a typical 4-year-old enjoying a day at the park. But it is those burns that brought the boy from a small country in Eastern Africa to the city by the lake.

In 2012, Ladd and Carley Serwart, both 24, felt called to serve as missionaries in East Africa. The young married couple, born and raised in Coeur d’Alene, had worked on fundraisers for African nations through their church, Anthem Friends in Hayden.

“One of our friends from Burundi came to Coeur d’Alene and asked us how we would feel about coming over and living there for a couple of years,” Ladd said. “We were already thinking about it and saw that as an open door so we went for it.”

After selling most of their possessions, the couple moved to Burundi and got involved with local faith-based organizations in the nation’s capital, Bujumbura. Carley taught Bible at King’s School and Ladd worked with Scripture Union, an international organization that distributes Bibles and provides AIDS education throughout Burundi.  

“Part of that was working with a group of guys,” Ladd said. “Alex was one of those guys. He is a very impactful leader in the country.”

The three immediately formed a close bond and Alex, a Burundian who had just completed his psychology degree, worked with Carley at the school. One day, another American couple Ladd and Carley had become friends with visited with them before leaving Burundi.

It was that day that Leo became a part of their lives. While traveling in a remote rural village in the southern end of the country, the couple went to a small medical clinic and saw Leo and his mother there.

“It was probably seven or eight months after the accident,” Ladd said. “Our friends, Tim and Jeannette, talked to Leo’s mom and asked her what was going on. She said they didn’t have any money for more treatment. What had happened was Leo was playing and no one else was around. He fell in a cooking fire.”

“They cook on the ground with charcoal and it's just open,” Carley added. “It's actually a pretty common accident. You see a lot of kids over there with burns. He had fallen and basically got his head stuck in between the cooking stones. From what his mom said, he must have been there for minutes. His head, all the way down his face, was burned. When this family first saw him they could see his skull. It was all exposed and there was a lot of infection.”

Since Tim and Jeannette were leaving the country, they asked Ladd and Carley if they would be willing to help.

The young couple immediately jumped into action. They were able to quickly get Leo a skin graft over his whole head from a Dutch medical team that was in the area.  

“That was helpful in putting skin on his face but a lot of the details — he didn’t have an eyelid and his mouth was kind of melted together — weren’t done,” Ladd said.

The inability for Leo to blink or close his right eye caused a lot of infection, Ladd added. The next step was finding someone who could perform reconstructive surgery on the child’s eye. A doctor from Belgium who works in Rwanda was recommended, and shortly after, Alex accompanied Leo to the neighboring country.

“Leo's wounds were not yet healed and the doctor specialized in eyes and was known in that area. He checked on him and said he couldn't do anything because of the wounds,” Alex said. “We were disappointed because we were expecting much to be done but it was too much for him and he couldn't do anything. But the doctor said he had a friend in Uganda that might be able to help. That's when we went back to Burundi to prepare to go to Uganda.”

Ladd went to Uganda with Leo, and the boy’s mother and sister, in order to serve as their translator. He was quickly thrust into the role of nurse.

“After the surgery they just brought him out on the stretcher and gave me the gauze and told me to stop the bleeding,” Ladd said. “It was a challenging time.”

While Ladd was in Uganda, Carley received an email from Peter Glanville, a friend in Coeur d’Alene who had heard Leo’s story. In the email, Glanville said he had a friend who worked at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Boston and if they could get Leo there all of his surgeries and medical care would be provided free of charge.

“Honestly when I first got that email I thought it seemed unrealistic,” Carley said. “But then I told Ladd and he was just like, ‘OK.”

There was still hope that the treatment Leo received in Uganda would be enough and that tackling the logistical challenge of bringing the boy to Boston wouldn’t be necessary. However, within a month of Leo returning to his village in Burundi, massive infections in his eye ate away all of the gains made through the reconstructive surgery.

“We had the option to seek out more treatment in Eastern Africa,” Ladd said. “But Boston was there as long as we could get him there.”

With the world-class treatment in Boston on the table, Alex and Ladd spent the next two months traveling through the maze of an often corrupt Burundian government in order to get all of the necessary paperwork in order.

Alex was asked to serve as Leo’s legal guardian so he could accompany the boy to Boston for the surgeries. Carley said Alex was a perfect fit for the role, especially since he had previous experience taking others to get medical care and serve as a translator.

But Alex had his doubts.

“I was like ‘God why are people calling on me to do this? I’m not qualified, I don’t have much experience,’” Alex said.

Carley said some people might be curious why Leo’s parents didn’t accompany him to the United States.

“They don’t speak English and Leo is one of 11 kids. There was no way they could have come,” she said. “The stress of Leo’s condition has been immense on his parents. They’re absolutely incredible, but it’s been exhausting.”

After talking and praying with his family, Alex agreed to become Leo’s legal guardian.

“I know people that, it’s taken them ages to come to America and get those documents,” Alex said. “I told God if he wanted me to go with Leo we needed this process to be done in a short time. It took like two months.”

On June 28, the four flew out of Burundi together. Ladd and Carley did some other traveling before returning to Coeur d’Alene while Alex and Leo headed to Boston.

Carley said the entire time the couple was traveling, Leo was on their mind. According to Alex, the first operation had to be delayed after Leo was diagnosed with an antibiotic-resistant staph infection.

But in the middle of August, the young boy had his first surgery.

“The first operation was really amazing,” Alex said. “Leo is really amazing, he’s a really brave guy. He’s a very strong, happy boy.”

Doctors were astounded, Alex said, when shortly after the surgery Leo was active and wanting to play. The boy was supposed to spend up to five days recovering at the hospital but was out in two.

Leo has eight weeks before his next reconstructive surgery and he and Alex were able to travel to Coeur d’Alene to visit Carley and Ladd.

Carley said it is amazing to see the relationship that Alex has with Leo.

“You can just tell that he trusts Alex so much, which is such a blessing,” Carley said.    

“It’s a new experience for me. I have to be strong so I can be more helpful to him,” Alex added. “But we’ve become friends. We are more like family now. It’s really hard for Leo to live where everything is new.”

But Leo is quickly adapting to life in America. The 4-year-old is now fluent in English and able to write his name and count to 10.

“When he first got here all he wanted to eat was rice and beans. But now if you ask him what his favorite food is he goes 'pizza, pizza,'” Carley said. “That eases my fears about him going back.”

Ladd estimated that Leo and Alex will be in the country for close to a year receiving medical care in Boston. Alex plans on being by the boy’s side throughout the journey.

The plan is for Leo to return to his parents following his medical treatments.

“Every time we wake up in the morning, I taught him three things to say — I'm smart, I'm wonderful and I'm handsome,” Alex said.

“He does it with such a little attitude too,” Carley said, laughing.

Both Ladd and Carley said they are grateful to the people of Coeur d’Alene for their support and for playing a pivotal role in Leo’s life.

“This city, even more specifically the Christian community in this city, is so caring,” Carley said. “The amount of love and prayers and support and care we all received is unbelievable. It's amazing that he gets to be here and people get to see the fruits of their prayers and support. This is all God. There's no way that any of this could have happened aside from Jesus. That's where all the glory goes.”