Nearly a week after being shot twice by a law enforcement officer in Ethiopia, Fowsia Musse has had her leg amputated.
Musse was shot in the stomach and hip, additionally suffering a broken leg. She has received multiple surgeries at hospitals in Ethiopia in recent days to treat her injuries.
After the shooting, which left her younger sister dead and 14-year-old son injured, Musse, the executive director of Maine Community Integration in Lewiston, was transferred twice to different hospitals for medical treatment.
Doctors at the second hospital in the capital recommended amputation. After being transferred to a third hospital in Ethiopia, doctors were optimistic about saving her leg, according to a GoFundMe update from her daughter, Shadia Abdulahi.
“Their assessment found that there was vascular damage and infection from the bullets, and that she would need vascular surgery and a blood transfusion,” Abdulahi wrote. “We believed everything was OK until this (Monday) morning, when I got a phone call from my uncle.”
Musse’s leg was amputated with her consent due to an infection that spread faster than anticipated, according to a Facebook post from Maine Community Integration.
Musse’s family and co-workers at Maine Community Integration are continuing to ask the community for donations to help support her medical care.
“My family and I are afraid that the infection may still be present after surgery, and we believe she may need to be flown back on an emergency Air Ambulance following the surgery,” Abdulahi wrote.
They hope to transport Musse to The John Hopkins Hospital in Maryland soon after the surgery. The air ambulance will cost $178,000 according to Abdulahi.
As of Monday morning, her GoFundMe has received more than $82,000 in donations from more than 700 donors. The fundraiser’s goal has been increased to $200,000.
A Facebook post from Maine Community Integration states that the organization is also in search of a personal or private loan for Abdulahi, who is coordinating her mother’s transportation back to the U.S.
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