Insider Scoop: Treating Pain in a Prison, Part Four

  For a few years, I worked clinically in a Maximum Security Prison in Africa… I mostly had to deal with Inmates who lives with painful conditions; much of their pain was due to common ailments, like old fractures and others a bit weirder, unexplained phenomena. I can only share a very limited amount of information due to patient-privacy obligations and safety concerns (literally fearing for mine own life and those I love).

  Once, I had an Inmate as a patient who tore his Achilles’ tendon after playing soccer at the prison’s sport field. He came in with foot pain and difficulty walking. The diagnosis was rather easily made as it was a full-blown muscle tear with the muscle belly displaced superiorly. The Inmate had severe pain and absolutely no plantar flexion.

  I could not really intervene much, as an Orthopaedic consultation was warranted as soon as possible. I strapped his ankle in neutral and sent him on his merry way. Unfortunately, we could only get an appointment for him at Ortho in about two months. Muscle healing, however, does not conform to a surgeon’s schedule, sadly. For the two months, I issued him with two elbow crutches (which logically had to be cleared by the security team, as crutches are a deadly weapon in a mass murderer’s hands). I scheduled him for a follow-up consultation with me in four weeks from his initial consultation.

  Much to my surprise, at the date of his follow-up consult, the Inmate came into my office quite literally dancing… My scientific and/or biological mind failed to comprehend what I was witnessing. All that remained of the muscle tear was a small bump behind his ankle. He had no pain and his ranges of movement were perfect. He was able to jog up and down steps as if nothing’s ever been wrong.

  At a loss for words, I asked him what happened. He decided to fill me in on the far longer version of the story, starting with his reason for serving time. The Inmate, for about an hour, explained that he killed a few people at a tavern after an altercation. He used to be a Sangoma (traditional African healer with apparent connections to the spiritual realm) before his incarceration. After being admitted to the prison, he found God and Jesus as his saviour and decided to dedicate his life to this cause, but with a bit of African magic flair of his own creation.

  I picked up that other Inmates referred to him as ‘Pastor’, due to his proclivity to testify the love of God, no matter your history. The Inmate claimed that, after I saw him the first time, he spent a day in prayer to his ancestors (as is the culture in some/most parts of Africa) asking for healing in trade of something he did not care to elaborate on. Afterwards, he slept for three days straight. When he woke up, his leg was apparently completely healed…

  I cancelled his Orthopaedic consultation, as they would never believe something was wrong in the first place. Luckily, two of the General Practitioners bear witness to the events. We were all flabbergasted, but the two doctors have witnessed weirder things than these before while doing time.