Volunteers onboard the world’s largest floating hospital, Mercy Ships have welcomed the first set of patients onboard the Global Mercy.

“These volunteers just welcomed the very first patients as they came on board for surgeries in Sierra Leone,” the Charity said.

Mercy Ships said they have about 600 volunteers with 65 British volunteers serving on the Global Mercy in Sierra Leone.

On Wednesday September 13, the Charity did their first surgery on a 43-year-old man with a tumor on his throat.

The man named Emmanuel said he had longed for the arrival of the floating hospital for a long time now. He said the success of the surgery “is one of the happiest days” in his life.

The medical charity said Emmanuel’s surgery is the first of over 2,300 to be done in the next 10 months.