Boy’s battered feet offer harrowing image of migrants’ journey [centerforhealthjournalism.org]
Last fall, an 8-year-old boy I’ll call Mateo came to the pediatric clinic in South Los Angeles where I was working. He was thin, with sun-parched skin and very quiet. He seemed fearful of everyone and everything. His mother brought him in because his feet were hurting. When I removed Mateo’s tattered tennis shoes and socks, his feet were inflamed and the skin was flaking off the soles. His toes were covered in black eschars, pieces of dead tissue. I couldn’t believe he was able to walk. I...