After being mutilated by members of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda, a mother has undergone two life-changing surgeries to restore her face — and the process is almost done, according to a report by the AFP.
Click here to see read the full AFP article
Anna Alwoch is on a list of candidates for plastic surgery, along with other victims who were mutilated by members of the LRA in northern Uganda.
During its 20-year rebellion against the central government, the LRA became notorious for extreme brutality, including cutting the lips, ears and noses of civilians, chopping off villagers' body parts and beating victims to death.
Alwoch and her two children were captured in 1992 after a nearby clash between government and rebel forces. After being raped, she and the children were moved to a shed for torture.
"The rebel commander ordered for my lips to be cut off. But he said that if I made any noise of pain, I and my kids were to be killed," Alwoch told the AFP.
In the late 1990's, a nearby hospital offered to perform reconstructive surgery on Alwoch.
"I thought I could be made the way I was before," she said.
Her bottom lip was completely restored — but the 55-year-old said the painful surgeries have made her wary of undergoing another procedure.
"I accept the way I am. Once you have a scar, you have a scar."
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox