Bergen Girl Helps Kids With Cleft Lips And Palates Get Surgeries

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Sometimes, friendships can start in unusual places.

Just ask Sarah McGowan. She started up a friendship with an 11-year-old boy, Muhamad, while on a missions trip to Morocco recently.

McGowan, a senior at the Academy of Holy Angels high school in Demarest, was in Morocco as a volunteer with Operation Smile. She was helping the organization provide surgeries to boys and girls with cleft lips and palates.

McGowan saw Muhamad rocking back and forth nervously before his surgery. She walked over to him, and invited him to play catch.

"When it was time for him to go into surgery, he grabbed my hand right when we walked out of the pre-op room and went into the elevator. I tried to tell him he was going to do great, and everything was going to be fine, but the language barrier was hard," McGowan said in a news release. "So, instead, I was giving him high-fives, thumbs up, and kept on holding his hand."

The surgery was successful and Muhamad was well enough to spend time with McGowan the next day.

"Muhamad was in the post-op ward. He was there waiting for me, and I ran into his room and his eyes lit up," McGowan said. "We made matching bracelets together and took so many pictures that I will cherish. He did not understand why I was hugging him a million times and saying 'bye'in Arabic, but I could tell he was not too happy about it. His mother thanked me with kisses and hugs and showed me how much it meant to her that I helped change her son’s life."

McGowan and her team worked from 5 a.m. until about 8 p.m.

The experience of helping children like Muhamad inspired McGowan to pursue a career as a nurse.

"I have found my love for nursing in Morocco," McGowan added. "Being able to provide a treatment for these patients is something I know I want to do for the rest of my life."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com