For the first time, in our mask-centric society, a mask does not only help to protect but also to heal
A year ago in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, a gas leak, left 25 dead and dozens injured, and ravaged several shops. Amid the victims, was Maram, a girl of 8 who was severely burned.
Maram and her mother, who was also seriously injured on the face and hands, wear transparent plastic masks developed by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Using a 3D scanner, experts from MSF were able to produce a tailor-made mask with each of them. “The 3D-printed mask puts pressure on the face and advances the healing process”, explains Firas Suergo, head of physiotherapy for MSF in Gaza.
The custom mask integrates adjustable straps to hold onto the face. No information has been given about the 3D printing technology used or the required medical material that enables to produce the healing mask. Depending on the gravity of their injury, burn patients need to wear it for six months minimum to a year.
Maram wears the transparent mask eight hours per day, and she is afraid her comrades will laugh at her. “The mask has made my burns better, but I’m afraid people will laugh at me if I wear it outside the house,” she shyly confesses, dressed in the black-and-white striped lace uniform of her school, which is run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
On the other hand, her 31-year-old mother keeps her mask on for 16 hours. She only removes it during the day to eat.
At night, she wears another mask, and she also has special gloves for burns on her hands. “Our wounds have improved thanks to the mask,” says Izdihar, who now manages to go about household chores like before the accident. “We were waiting for the taxi after shopping and we suddenly heard a big explosion, then saw fire everywhere,” she recalls.
“My family refused to look at my face after the accident,” says Izdihar. “I only saw my face 50 days after the operation, in the elevator mirror while going to get my mask at the clinic.” The mother of four hopes the scars will disappear “in two or three years, as the doctors told [them].”
This healing project was launched in April 2020 and people in Jordan and Haiti have been able to take advantage of it.
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