•With better healthcare system, we will do without such cases
Nine-year-old Kehinde urgently needs help in a pathetic case that further highlights the failings of the country’s healthcare system. He needs N550, 000 to treat hydrocephalus, a condition also known as “water on the brain.” Hydrocephalus occurs when fluid builds up in the skull and causes the brain to swell. The condition can cause brain damage, leading to ”developmental, physical, and intellectual impairments.”
The ailing boy, a twin, was born at the General Hospital, Ado-Awaye, Iseyin, Oyo State, according to his father, Isiaka Yusuf, a recharge card seller, who brought the sad case to public attention. Yusuf said: “When Kehinde had repeated high temperature at six months, my wife and I took him to the General Hospital, Ado-Awaye, in Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State, where a drip was passed via his head because the doctor didn’t find a vein. He shaved his head and passed a drip through it.”
It is unclear whether this treatment approach complicated Kehinde’s condition. His condition worsened. His father continued: “About two weeks after he was discharged, we noticed that his head started swelling more than his entire body. He cannot sit, or walk, or control his head since then. We went back to the doctor, but the hospital was on strike. The doctor prescribed multivitamins for him.”
Kehinde’s case shows how public hospital strikes can make matters worse for those who need medical attention. Why strikes happen in public hospitals to the detriment of members of the public who need treatment is a question crying for a solution. This instance reflects the irony of a hospital that refuses to provide treatment.
“Because of the strike,” Yusuf said, “we went to about 10 private hospitals because his condition kept deteriorating. A doctor later referred us to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. He told us that Kehinde had hydrocephalus, explaining that he could only be treated at the UCH. We were told that hydrocephalus was time and money consuming, and it might take up to eight years of treatment before Kehinde would fully recover.”
After two surgeries, one at UCH and another at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Kehinde’s condition remains a cause for concern. His father said: ”The first surgery was performed in 2014 and he was okay for a while. We were told to come for post-surgery treatment and we did. Then we were told that the surgery was unsuccessful…The second was later performed in July 2016 and we were told it was successful. But Kehinde still couldn’t walk, couldn’t hold his neck up.”
It is noteworthy that Yusuf described an improvement in his son’s condition after the second operation: “The changes we noticed after the second surgery was that he started eating well, although there are things he still can’t eat. His fingers that were tiny like a baby’s grew out and he started talking.”
Not surprisingly, getting treatment for their sick son has taken a heavy toll on Kehinde’s parents. Yusuf was quoted as saying he had spent about N4 million, sold his car, house, belongings, spent his savings and proceeds from his business to treat his son. He added that his wife, an auxiliary nurse, left her job to attend to their son.
This picture of anguished parents at their wits’ end is pitiful. It is worrying that Kehinde’s parents have carried the financial and emotional burden of their son’s sickness for about eight years now. Their decision to bring their son’s suffering to public notice and seek assistance is a measure of their need for help. It also reflects their belief that they can get help from people who are full of the milk of human kindness.
According to the newspaper report that publicised the story, “Donations can be sent to Kehinde Abdur-Raheem Yusuf, 0151945965, GTBank. Mr Yusuf can be called on 08039406868.” Indeed, Kehinde needs help.
In the final analysis, cases like Kehinde’s, involving sick people who need help and seek assistance from the public, call for an improved healthcare system.
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