In recent months we have seen an increase in trauma patients in the hospital. Most patënts have fractures of the lower leg or upper leg, a result of motorcycle accidents. There are few hospitals in Sierra Leone that can provide care for complex leg fractures and we at Lion Heart do our best to provide this. For an 'open fracture' of the lower leg, for example, we can place a so-called external fixator. An external frame of carbon rods connected to iron pins that are fixed in the bone hold the bone in the right place so that it can heal. Patients who are operated on in this way stay with us in Lion Heart for about 6 to 8 weeks until the fixator is removed again. After this a short period in plaster and then they leave - usually walking again! - the hospital. Most patients are referred from other hospitals in Sierra Leone that are increasingly able to find us in cases like this.