18 May 2009 |
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They were four in number and were innocent as well as cute; they came into the world to different families in Nigeria and their arrival brought joy, happiness and gladness to their respective families and their parents looked forward to them celebrating their birthdays and growing up just like every other child. But today, their stories have changed and instead of them running about in the school playfields and chasing around their friends, they constantly visit the hospitals time and time again. Their parents were informed that their children had not only the genetic imbalance called Down Syndrome; a situation where a person has 47 Chromosomes instead of 46, they also different sizes of holes in their respective young innocent hearts. These are the stories of the four babies that are currently awaiting corrective heart surgery at the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN) office at Ogunlana Drive, Surulere in Lagos State. Baby Taofik Boluwatife Ajoke (9 months), Felicia Oyinloye (12months) Etim Gabriel (18 months) and Baby Favour Nwoke’ the youngest of the four at 6 months whose unfortunate death occurred on the 13th of May 2009. Following the demise of Baby Favour, there are mounting fears that the babies might not make it. According to Mrs. Rose Mordi, the National President of the Down Syndrome Association, the children are living by the grace of God and need to be taken to the theatre within the next few weeks. “It is very unfortunate that we are coming to Nigerians again with our cap in hand to beg for funds to take this children to India for a corrective heart surgery but what else can we do; we just finished with Baby Victoria Ajayi in February and within that period and now, these families came to us for help. We cannot tell them to go away because they were referred to us from the Paediatrics department of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and us shutting our doors to them is unthinkable as the association is meant to help and assist people with Down Syndrome (DS),” she said. All the babies were referred to the association from LUTH are DS and have a story. Baby Ajoke Baby Ajoke lost her mother a few minutes after she was born and has her Aunty, Rachel to thank for taking care of her since then. According to her aunt, Baby Ajoke was born on the 1st of July 2008 by her younger sister who died immediately after delivering as a result of haemorrhage, “She lost a lot of blood and the placenta did not come out,” she informed. The late mother called Aderonke Adetoun was 32 years and was single at the time of her death. “She gave birth at home, because the baby was not yet due to be delivered. When she went to the hospital she was told that the baby was not yet due and when she went back on Friday she was told that the baby will not be due until in a month and half time so on Sunday night she started feeling like she was in labour and she gave birth,” she recalls. Since then, Rachel, who is a mother of three has been facing the challenges of taking care of the baby and was very worried when she got to know of her condition and cardiac condition. “It has been challenging and I have three children, two boys and a girl, my last born is seventeen years, in fact when we learnt that she had hole in the heart, my husband said that it will not be easy then I said that if we should take her back then its like condemning her to death because if we take her back to the village having known what is wrong with her, who will take care of her in that village so I just said that I will leave everything to God because whatever will happen will happen it was not easy for me and my market was not really moving and I had to start spending everything that I had for her to survive, “ she said. She got to know about the story of Baby Victoria when she visited LUTH and was referred to the centre. Baby Etim Gabriel. Baby Etim has a mother who has a strong will and an unrelenting faith. According to his father, My Etim Bassey, a printer residing at Lawanson Street in Surulere, the baby started getting sick two weeks after he was delivered, “We went to LUTH and there we did some tests that took some time and then later they said he had a hole. That was my first time knowing that a child can have a hole in the hearts. He was admitted in April and was there for two weeks and later discharged. The next month which was September he was admitted. Later doctors went on strike and we could not take him to the hospital. The mother went round and found about the DSAN. I asked her if she had the money for the operation in India, I told her that I did not have any money to take the child to India, but when I received a call from the Media and Publicity Coordinator of the association, Mr. Ahaoma Kanu, he assured me that the association will try their best,” he narrated. Baby Oyinloye Baby Felicia Oyinloye’s mother resides at Ketu in Lagos and got to know of the association through a friend, “She advised me to come to the centre and when I got there I met the Ajayi family that just had their child operated on; they encouraged me to pray and have faith in the association,” said Mrs. Oyinloye. Late Baby Favour The late Baby Favour’s father was a friend of Mr. Ajayi and was very optimistic that his daughter would also be lucky until last week. “I am very sad but what can I do, everyone tried their best,” he said over the phone. According to the Paediatric Echocardographic reports of the babies, they have per membranous ventricular septal defect which results in a complete endocardial cushion defect which is a critical condition requiring surgery. The Media and Publicity Coordinator of the DSAN, Mr. Ahaoma Kanu, appealed to everybody to come to the aid of the babies. “We really don’t have the fund for these three babies and this is the first time we are having this number as babies at the same time since we re-introduced the Save-a-life Project; the project is really hindering the smooth running of the association but what can we do, none of us wants to be the one with the responsibility of sending these parents away with their babies,” he said. He informed that the association is still at the small facility at Ogunlana Drive because the funds that were supposed to be used in securing a new facility went into Baby Victoria Ajayi. “Their condition is very serious so serious that right now we have to put them on anti-heart failure drugs to sustain them and stabilize their condition because the cardiologist said that something needs to be done and done very quickly. As it now, something has to be done concerning the babies and to be done fast Mordi pleaded. When it has to do with this congenital heart condition as the baby gets older the condition gets more serious because the heart is pumping over time and it can gradually get to a stop. We are running against time as far as these babies’ cases are concerned and we need to do something and the only thing that needs to be done is to carry out corrective heart surgery as soon as possible,” she said. Mordi announced that the association is trying to raise the N10.5 million for the three babies, their mothers and chaperon to be taken to the Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bangalore, India for the babies to have the corrective heart surgeries. The Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN) therefore appeals to every Nigerian to come to the aid of at least one of their babies. ““We know we have asked you before, we are asking you again to come to the aid of these babies, they must live and only your generosity can make it happen. It is very hard to raise funds but we are determined that these babies must live,” Mordi said. “We have written to some corporate bodies and individuals we have made personal contacts with our partners asking them to support us to save these babies lives by raising the fund we need. It is N10.5 million for the operations and will cover the air ticket for the mothers, and babies; the surgery fees and accommodation while there as well as the post surgery care we normally assist the family with when they come back to Nigeria as we cannot afford to take them back to India for check-up.” The association with the help of Nigerians and friends of Nigeria has within the last year successfully taken two DS babies with holes in the heart namely Baby Andrew Duku and Baby Victoria Ajayi to undergo corrective heart surgery in India.
Baby Ajoke
Baby Etim
Late Baby Favour If you have read this story and want to be part of the people that will help in saving the babies, you can contact the organization in Nigeria at the following address: Nigeria Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN) 109 Ogunlana Street, Surulere, Lagos State. Nigeria Tel: 01-8119718, 01-2704710, 080-27797418, 080-32285545.(Mrs. Rose Mordi) 080-3748-7286 (Ahaoma Kanu) Website: www.dsa-nigeria.org. Bank Details Account Name: Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria Account Number: 0040010006300 Bank: Access bank PLC (Aguda Branch) Surulere, Lagos. CURRENT A/C: 0040010006300 DOMICILIARY A/C: 0731010000057 ($USD)/0731020000064 (GBP/STERLING) SWIFT CODE/SORT CODE: ABNNGLA If you live outside Nigeria, please call the individuals indicated below: UK. Mr. Ayo Omotade +44-7956-20-662 Mrs. Anne Obidi +44-7984-947-777 Mrs. Tosin Awotesu +44-7873-300-250 U.S.A Mr. Philip Adekunle +1-502-741-0310
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