Josué

Josué Inez Martinez-Palma is an 11-year-old boy who came to San Benito José and received a successful hernia operation on our January surgical mission.

Josué comes from a remote mountain village in the Department of Francisco Morazan in Honduras. He is a brother to five other siblings in the family, and the twin of José Santos.

When Josué and his twin were five years old they were wrestling and Josué was hurt. At first his family thought nothing of his injury, chalking it up to rough play with his brother. They knew, as all mountain families do, that children are tough; they thought he would naturally mend.

Over the course of the next 6 years they realized Josue’s injury was a little more than a bruise or bump. Each time his hernia became enlarged or inflamed Josué and his father would make a 3-hour trip on horseback to the closest rural health center.

In October his family heard the radio ad announcing SBJ’s November surgical mission. Together they made the 3-day trip by horse and bus for their consult and eventual surgery. Now, months later, Josué is at home with his family, busy being a healthy 11-year-old.