Boy, born with organs outside his body to undergo life-saving surgery after a English doctor who was visiting his daughter in Ghana saw him

A three-year-old boy will get life-saving surgery thanks to a chance meeting with an English doctor. Ethan Suglo, from Ghana, has a condition called Exomphalos which means his organs are outside his abdomen.

Last summer, doctor David Williams was in Ghana visiting his daughter who was teaching English and working on a radio show when he met Ethan's father Charles, who also worked at the radio station.

Dr David Williams, pictured right, with his family, met Ethan during a visit to Ghana and began the process of arranging life-saving surgery for the youngster which involved raising more than £50,000 to cover costs 

Dr Williams was asked to examine Ethan and within a year he and his wife Jacquie helped to raise around £51,000 to fly the toddler to the UK for surgery.

Ethan is set to have what Dr Williams has described as 'life-saving and life-transforming' surgery on Wednesday.

Looking back on the day he met Ethan in July 2015, Dr Williams told the Press Association: 'I was asked when I went out, because I'm a doctor, just to have a look at Ethan.

'So I went thinking I'd see a little African boy with a swollen tummy... malnutrition and worms, and when I got there I was just shocked by what I saw.

'I'd never seen it before, certainly not in a two-year-old. I don't think I'd ever seen it in my career, I've been a doctor 20 or 30 years and I'd never seen this case.

'I wasn't sure at that time what would be involved, but I did look Charles in the eye and said I'd do what I could to help.'

He said he thought he would contact Ghanaian or Nigerian surgeons and the surgery could be carried out locally, but it quickly became apparent that Ghana did not have the facilities or expertise.

Dr Williams, from Stretton-on-Fosse on the Warwickshire-Gloucestershire border, contacted professors and surgeons in England and a paediatric surgeon at the John Radcliffe Hospital said he could do the operation.

He was told that £25,000 would need to be raised, so in March a fundraising campaign was launched to cover the cost of the operation, flights and additional costs.

Dr Williams said that he has been told the total currently sits at around £51,000 thanks to events such as cake sales and half marathons, as well as help from charity Willing and Abel.

The extra money will help other children, he said.

Boy, born with organs outside his body to undergo life-saving surgery after a English doctor who was visiting his daughter in Ghana saw him