Okonjo-Iweala hails son who set medical record in US

Uchechi Iweala, son of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the DG of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has broken a medical record in Maryland, United States.

The WTO boss, on Tuesday, announced that her son was one of the first spinal surgeons in Maryland to successfully perform a navigated lumbar spinal fusion using a robot.

Spinal fusion surgery is a procedure to stop the motion at a painful vertebral segment, which in turn can decrease the pain generated from the joint.

Spinal fusion is major surgery, usually lasting several hours, and there are different methods to perform it.

Okonjo-Iweala took to her Twitter page on Tuesday to congratulate her son on his medical feat.

Sharing photos from the operation, she wrote: “Congratulations Dr. Uchechi Iweala, on being one of the first spinal surgeons in Maryland to perform a successful navigated lumbar spinal fusion using a robot!

“So proud to be your Mum! Keep it going!”

See pictures below:

According to the Center for Advanced Orthopeadics, Uchechi is a fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in spine surgery.

“He earned his Bachelor’s degree with honors at Harvard College, and received his MD/MBA from Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School,” his biography read.

“Dr. Iweala returned to the DC area to complete his residency training in orthopaedic surgery at George Washington University. Following residency, he completed a fellowship in spine surgery at New York University.”