Dorothy Anning, a 21-year-old from Ghana, is now studying medicine at the University of Ghana after surviving a life-changing surgery to remove a large tumor behind her eye. Her dream is to help others with deformities or disabilities—just like a doctor once helped her.
At the age of six, Dorothy was diagnosed with a benign cranial tumor that started from the bone in her skull and grew outward, eventually occupying the socket where her right eye should have been. As the tumor grew, people in her community became afraid of her appearance, and some would even run away when they saw her.
In 2008, with help from a Ghanaian doctor and the Children’s Cross Connection in Atlanta, Dorothy traveled to the U.S. for surgery. There, neurosurgeon Dr. Jim Robinson…Dorothy Anning, a 21-year-old from Ghana, is now studying medicine at the University of Ghana after surviving a life-changing surgery to remove a large tumor behind her eye. Her dream is to help others with deformities or disabilities—just like a doctor once helped her.
At the age of six, Dorothy was diagnosed with a benign cranial tumor that started from the bone in her skull and grew outward, eventually occupying the socket where her right eye should have been. As the tumor grew, people in her community became afraid of her appearance, and some would even run away when they saw her.
In 2008, with help from a Ghanaian doctor and the Children’s Cross Connection in Atlanta, Dorothy traveled to the U.S. for surgery. There, neurosurgeon Dr. Jim Robinson—who had never seen a case like hers—performed a risky 23-hour operation over two days to completely remove the tumor. Radiation wasn’t an option, so the tumor had to be fully removed through surgery. Dr. Robinson later called it his greatest surgical accomplishment.
After the successful removal, he also reconstructed the missing part of Dorothy’s skull and eye socket. She spent nearly two months in recovery before returning home to Ghana with her mother, Comfort.
For the first time, Dorothy felt free to walk confidently in public, no longer hiding her face. Inspired by Dr. Robinson’s kindness and skill, she decided to become a doctor herself. Now in medical school, she hopes to improve the lives of others with similar challenges, just as her doctor changed hers.