Call for Solidarity - Sanaa, 5 Years Old: Her Fight to Walk, at Last

Born with a congenital foot deformity, Sanaa Nuckcheddy has never experienced the carefree joy of taking her first steps. A reconstructive surgery could grant her this chance. Her parents are calling for solidarity, supported by the OMCA Foundation.

Some children learn to walk by falling. Others, from birth, realize that their feet will not carry them like those of others. Sanaa Nuckcheddy, 5 years old, belongs to this latter category.

Born with a congenital foot deformity known as "clubfoot deformity," she has always advanced with an invisible but constant hindrance made of pain, fatigue, and frustration. After an initial surgery in Egypt, another reconstructive surgery is urgently needed, costing over Rs 670,000. Her parents are calling for support, backed by the OMCA Foundation, to give her what life has so far denied her: the ability to walk without pain.

Sanaa, from Beau-Bassin, has never run in a schoolyard or played with her peers. While childhood should be lighthearted, hers has been built around effort and waiting.

Her story is also that of a family tossed by circumstances. After the quarantine period due to the pandemic, her parents, Samirah and Muhammad, left Mauritius for Egypt. The father, facing professional challenges, attempts to rebuild their future elsewhere, while the mother was six months pregnant at that time.

In Egypt, in Zagazig, Sanaa was born. She grew up there for five years, surrounded by her siblings and her paternal grandmother, a gynecologist. Early on, the grandmother noticed that something was wrong: the child’s feet were not developing normally.

Around the age of a year and a half, while other children were standing, Sanaa struggled. She would try, sit down, and try again. Her mother watched helplessly as the painful disparity unfolded: "When she was trying to stand, she would reposition herself... as if she had no strength. My sorrow was immense. At this age, a child should start believing they can do anything."

It’s not just the inability to walk that hurts, but what it represents: a slowed childhood, a difference that settles in. Yet, Sanaa is doing well. She speaks, understands, learns. Intellectually and emotionally, the little girl develops like others. Her father emphasizes this, as if to remind everyone that his daughter is not defined by her disability: "Aside from her feet, she is normal. She speaks well and understands everything. Alhamdulillah."

A first operation led to fragile progress. The grandmother guided the family towards a structured medical pathway. Decisions were tough, resources limited, but hope remained. In 2024, a first surgical intervention was performed in Egypt. It was heavy, exhausting, but necessary. The results were encouraging, though not sufficient: an estimated 40% improvement. For the first time, Sanaa began to stand on her legs, to walk… with difficulty. "Now she stands, but her feet aren’t positioned correctly. She walks, but she suffers."

Every progress is met with gratitude. Yet the road to normal walking remains long. Each attempt to stand has long been a struggle, each step a fragile conquest.

Two months ago, the family returned to Mauritius with hopes of continuing care. However, the medical verdict was clear: another reconstructive surgery is essential, probably in India. Without this intervention, the child’s growth could aggravate the deformity.

For the parents, the urgency is twofold: medical and humanitarian. Time is not on their side. "Like all parents, we want to believe that things will get better. We believe that this surgery could change her life."

But a major obstacle stands in their way: the cost of the procedure, estimated at approximately Rs 674,000, is far beyond the family's reach.

In this context, the OMCA Foundation, a registered charity, decided to support the family. Sanaa's case has been approved and declared eligible for Zakaat. A call for solidarity has been launched, structured and transparent. The funds will finance a complete medical evaluation, the reconstructive surgery, as well as essential post-operative follow-up to enable the child to walk sustainably.

Sanaa is not asking for miracles or privileges. She is asking for a chance. The chance to walk to school without pain. The chance to play without falling. The chance to enter life without this invisible burden. As the OMCA Foundation reminds us: "Whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all mankind."

Today, Sanaa's future also relies on collective generosity. Every donation is a step forward. Every gesture is a promise. Because a child should never learn to live with pain before learning to walk.