By Our Correspondents
LAGOS – Fifteen-year-old boy, Kehinde Emmanuel
Mutairu was seen lying critically ill and helplessly at the Department of
Paediatrics and child health, Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). His
condition appears life-threatening and requires immediate attention. He was
said to be having a history of dyspnoea, an abnormal beating of the heart and
bilateral swollen leg, mild excretion, cough and is easily fatigued.
Mr. Hakeem Osho Mutairu and Mrs. Abiodun Mutairu,
his parents, said their son has suffered greatly with the ailment for more than
five years without any obvious improvement. Following the boy’s debility, attempts at self-medication
and his parents’ inability to decipher what was actually wrong with him, they
decided to seek help. They took a decision to meet with a specialist in the
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
There it was later discovered that the child has a
hole in the heart which is the obvious cause of his weakness and tiredness.
According to the Paediatrician/ Paediatric Cardialogist, Dr. B. A. Animasahun, Department of
Paediatrics and child health, LASUTH,
Kehinde had a displaced apex beat and a grade four pansystolic murmur
loudest at the mitral area.
Kehinde was managed for congestive cardiac failure
secondary to rheumatic heart disease and he is currently on anti-failure
medications and would benefit from a corrective heart surgery. The only remedy
therefore for Kehinde is to undergo a heart surgery without further delay,
Paediatric Cardialogist said in a letter signed by him and made available to
DAILY INDEPENDENT.
His grief-stricken mother said that Kehinde had
since stopped attending classes due to the ailment.
“My son stopped attending classes since we noticed
his inability to work well, this has really brought sadness to us and to
kehinde as well,” she lamented.
Kehinde’s dream has always been to become a
well-known engineer and has been practising at home.
“He repairs spoilt electronic gadgets in the house
and helps us to fix the fixable things even without the supervision of any
engineering specialist,” his grieving mother told DAILY INDEPENDENT during a
visit to LASUTH.
It was so shocking to find such a talented young
boy in such a terrible situation, despite all the money that had been spent on
him to get better.
All his parents are asking for now is assistance
from kind-hearted Nigerians to save the young boy’s life, having spent all that
their savings on the ailment.
“My son has been going through severe pain. We
arrived at LASUTH few hours ago for a medical check-up. My husband and I are
really scared because he becomes weaker day by day. We thought he would be
admitted because of his present state, but he was given extra drugs to add to
his other medications,” her anguished mother said.
Kehinde’s father, on his part, explained how
painful it was to see his son passing through excruciating agony and the
struggled to raise huge money for his treatment, but all to no avail.
“So much money has been spent on kehinde for his
medications and injections, but he is still in this state. He cannot do
anything for himself, even to eat is usually a problem; this is just a terrible
moment for us,” he said in anguish.
He added that he has been using his little income
from fashion designing to support his son’s health bills, but unfortunately,
his meager income cannot cover the cost of such a major surgery.
He further lamented that the specialist on
Kehinde’s case, said that if the surgery was not done as soon as possible, he
would be encountering more difficulties like the swollen leg.
“The swollen leg he has is because the surgery has
not been done; the doctor has given us a severe warning that if it is not done
on time the leg would swell more with unbearable stomach pain. If ordinary
drugs and injections could have saved him, I think Kehinde would have been
better because despite the fact that he spent more than a month in the hospital
receiving drips and injection he is still in this terrible situation,” Mr.
Mutairu lamented.
On her part, Kehinde’s mother spoke bitterly with
tears as she explained to DAILY INDEPENDENT on how she lost her twins few years
back due to an ailment also.
“Surgery is the only remedy for his ailment and I
do not want to lose him just as we lost his twin. As a mother I can feel his
pain and I know how unbearable this has been for him,” she cried out.
The devastated mother told DAILY INDEPENDENT that
the surgery could only be conducted if the sum of N4 million could be deposited
in the hospital.
“We were told to bring the sum of N4 million
before the surgery could be conducted. So much money has been spent on this
ailment. We plead to every member of the society to render an assistance to
save my son’s life.”
“Our little boy needs immediate help, mothers can
understand what it feels like to see their child in an unbearable pain, please
come to our aid,” Mrs. Mutairu said weeping and pleading.
If you are touched, please contact Kehinde’s
parents on 08185139503 or send your donations to Mrs. Abiodun Iyabode Mutairu,
GT Bank 0224624700.
