A BASINGSTOKE doctor has saved the life of an African woman after he raised funds to pay for surgery to remove a tumour on her jaw.

Dr Keith Thomson, a retired former consultant anaesthetist at Basingstoke hospital, was visiting Hoima in Uganda last May with a team from Basingstoke Hoima Partnership for Health (BHPH) when he met Specioza Tusiime at a church service, where the 35-year-old was singing in the choir.

Dr Thomson, who has spent time as a volunteer medical expert with the charity Mercy Ship, visiting Africa to provide healthcare to the poor, said: “She had an obvious mandibular (lower jaw) tumour of a type I have seen many times during visits to the Mercy Ship in West Africa over the past 24 years.

“Talking to her afterwards I discovered that she had had the problem for the past eight years but had no idea how to find anyone who might treat her, especially as she had very little money.”

He said that if it was not operated on, Specioza would either bleed or starve to death, because the benign tumour would continue growing and could block her airways.

Dr Thomson resolved to try and help Specioza and reassured her that he would do his best to ensure she had surgery on the tumour.

He contacted Corsu hospital, near Entebbe, where the required surgery could be carried out and then set about raising the £1,000 needed for it to go ahead.

Dr Thomson emailed friends in the UK and asked for donations and managed to raise the money needed.

He said: “Dr George at the hospital said that he could do the operation after she had a CT scan done in Kampala. I raised the money required from friends in the UK and she had her surgery about five months later.”

The surgery lasted nine hours during which time the tumour was removed and the lower jaw reconstructed with titanium and a fibula free flap from her leg.

Specioza spent three weeks in hospital following the operation.

Now, Dr Thomson has returned to Uganda to meet Specioza and her two children, Edward, 10, and Winifred, seven.

He said: “We had kept in contact via phone, email and text all of which were new techniques for her.”

Dr Thomson described the meeting as “quite emotional” adding: “I was seen as a saviour and I didn’t deserve it. I was the person who saw her problem and did something about it. You can’t change the world but I could change the world for one poor African lady. It has been a privilege for me and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for her and her children.”

Asked why he decided to help the mother, he said: “Every so often you get yourself in a situation where you know you might be able to help. A lot of people in Africa need help, but sometimes a little voice inside says ‘help that one’.”