Gesnel Seide has lived with a rare deformity on his hand since he was born. And thanks to a missionary group that provides medical care in Haiti, he may get the treatment he needs.

Miriam Frederick founded World Harvest Missions more than thirty years ago. She has been fighting the damage from extreme poverty in Haiti ever since.

“They've got advanced stages of liver disease and malnutrition – all types of disease that if they had a medical facility, they never would reached these advanced stages,” Frederick said.

In Haiti, doctors said Gesnel's only option was amputation. But Frederick said she wouldn't take that as an answer.

“I knew being a nurse from the U.S. I knew there was some technology here that maybe we could save his hand is we could find the right doctor," Frederick said.

That doctor proved tough to find until someone recommended she try Shands hospital, where Gesnel is scheduled for surgery this week. A surgery that Gesnel said has given him hope.

"I can swim better. And I can run faster,” Seide said.

Frederick is Gesnel's legal guardian. Gesnel is currently in the United States on a three-year medical visa.