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Congolese boy who Dikembe Mutombo helped travel to United States for surgery has died

Matadi Sela Petit, the 8-year-old boy that Dikembe Mutombo helped travel to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo to have a tumor removed from his face, died on Friday. (Instagram/@dofficialmutombo)
Matadi Sela Petit, the 8-year-old boy that Dikembe Mutombo helped travel to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo to have a tumor removed from his face, died on Friday. (Instagram/@dofficialmutombo)

The 8-year-old Congolese boy that retired NBA star Dikembe Mutombo helped travel to the United States to have a tumor removed from his face died on Friday, Mutombo announced on Instagram.

Mutombo and his foundation helped fly Matadi Sela Petit and his father to the United States earlier this month and arranged for doctors to remove a large tumor from the left side of his face. He died after suffering a rare genetic reaction to anesthesia during surgery.

View this post on Instagram

MATADI SELA PETIT The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation is sad to share the news of the passing of Matadi Sela Petit. Matadi was an 8 year old little boy with a vibrant and appealing personality. He was born in Kinshasa, DRC with a cleft lip and a facial tumor that enlarged as he grew. Matadi was sponsored by the DMF and several partners to receive surgical treatment for his tumor by Dr. Ryan Osborne, founder and Director of Head and Neck Surgery at the Osborne Head and Neck Institute in Los Angeles, CA. Matadi and his father were welcomed with open arms by Dr. Osborne, his team and the Cedars Sinai Hospital family as well as the Ronald McDonald House where he won everyone’s heart with his open and friendly attitude. During the delicate surgery, Matadi suffered a rare and unpredictable genetic reaction to anesthesia. Despite the diligent efforts of his medical caregivers, Matadi did not recover and he passed away last night. We are devastated by the loss of Matadi and our heart goes out to his father, his mother and the rest of his family, and all his old and new friends. We are comforted by the knowledge that a whole “village” adopted Matadi and joined forces to offer him treatment that was not available in the DRC and which would have given him the opportunity to have a new and different life. We thank Dr. Ryan Osborne and his team, the Cedars-Sinai Hospital medical team, the Ronald McDonald House, the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, the American Embassy in Kinshasa and all those who in large and small ways embraced Matadi and his family. He was a pioneer, and his memory will inspire us to continue to develop efforts and partnerships to improve the lives of the children of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A post shared by Dikembe Mutombo (@dofficialmutombo) on Dec 22, 2018 at 6:12am PST

“Despite the diligent efforts of his medical caregivers, Matadi did not recover and he passed away last night,” Mutombo said in the post. “We are devastated by the loss of Matadi and our heart goes out to his father, his mother and the rest of his family, and all of his old and new friends. We are comforted by the knowledge that a whole “village” adopted Matadi and joined forces to offer him treatment that was not available in the DRC and which would have given him the opportunity to have a new and different life.”

Mutombo first met Matadi in the Democratic Republic of Congo a few months ago at the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, which he helped build, and said he was moved by his story.

Mutombo, who played in the NBA from 1991-2009, was born in Kinshasa, Congo, and created the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 to help “improve the health, education and qualify of life for the people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

“[Matadi] was a pioneer, and his memory will inspire us to continue to develop efforts and partnerships to improve the lives of the children of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Mutombo said in the statement.

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