Dr. Nathalie Degardin’s 17-Year Mission in Mayotte

What began as occasional support for a colleague’s mission in Mayotte in 2008 has evolved into a sustained humanitarian effort. For 17 years, Dr. Nathalie Degardin, Head of the pediatric plastic surgery department at Timone Hospital, has performed surgery on children with clefts and other facial malformations in Mayotte. For 17 years, she has repaired the faces of children who would otherwise live in isolation, facing ostracism due to their appearance and difficulties communicating. Two 10-day missions are organized annually, supported by a partnership formalized in 2011 through an agreement for the provision of hospital practitioners between the AP-HM and the Mayotte Hospital Center.

Dr. Degardin trained in Lille and has been based in Marseille since 2007, developing meaningful expertise in managing these malformations. Upon joining the AP-HM, she treated both adult and pediatric patients, but as 2011, she has focused exclusively on pediatric plastic surgery, leading the department for the past two years.The service addresses tumors and skin anomalies in children, burns, wounds, and performs breast reconstructions for children born with agenesis or hypoplasia, and also treating hand conditions-whether traumatic, congenital, degenerative, or tumoral. Additionally, Nathalie Degardin coordinates two rare disease centers:

• MAFACE, dedicated to facial malformations, including clefts and other conditions affecting eyelids, nose, ears, and more.

• SPRATON, focused on children with isolated or syndromic Pierre Robin sequence and congenital sucking-swallowing disorders. These children receive care from prenatal stages and birth for respiratory or swallowing problems, often linked to clefts.

During her initial trip to Mayotte,prompted by the local ENT service,she primarily worked with older children and adolescents who had never had access to reconstructive surgery.

“I remember a 17-year-old girl, in her final year of secondary school, with an unrepaired cleft palate. She struggled to communicate effectively over the phone. The openings have visual…