Blessing, a 3-year old child has been confined in ICU since January 30, 2021. Her mother, Doreen Alusa, says that she was born a normal and healthy child at Likuyani District Hospital
Things however took a turn and have never been the same again when she reached 9 months and got the 9-month immunisation.
“From that the day when she was given the 9-month injection, the child began getting sick, emaciated and weak. I took her to a dispensary and was given medication but she did not get better. I took her to a private hospital in Kitale. The doctor performed all tests on her and concluded that she was lacking Calcium,” Alusa told NTV.
The doctor prescribed the food that Alusa would give her baby so that she could get enough calcium in her body. There was however no change in her baby’s condition, forcing her to take her to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
“In Eldoret, doctors discovered that her Oxygen was low. She was admitted and put on Oxygen but her oxygen continued to go down until she was taken to ICU. Since then she has never been out of ICU,” Alusa said.
According to Dr. Eren Oyungu, a paediatric neurologist, the condition Blessing is suffering from is spinal muscular atrophy.
“It simply means that the baby has a problem with the way the brain controls the muscles. She has basically all the problems. The initial thing that was noted is she has difficulty in moving limbs from 9 months she is not yet able to walk on her own. By now she should be a child running around but she can not. The second thing is respiration because for us to bring air into our lungs and out, we need the skeletal muscles to either contract the chest or expand the chest, why this is not happening is because those skeletal muscles are not receiving the command to say when you are breathing in you are supposed to expand the chest,” he explained
“What we have to do in terms of support is make the baby breathe in and out because as we all know if you can not take air in and out of your lungs then within 5 minutes you will lose your life because we all depend on oxygen for all body activities.”
Blessing has celebrated all her birthdays in ICU and Alusa is hoping that her upcoming 4th will arrive when the ventilation machines have been removed from her body.
“In 2023, a day after we celebrated her birthday, she began talking. When we came back I heard her call me and she also called her father. That birthday came with miracles.” Alusa said.
“I am usually pained when people ask me when my daughter will leave hospital or how long she has been there, I am not not God, what do they expect me to tell them?” she further wondered.
Juggling between taking care of Blessing and her other children is however not easy, to add on the financial troubles. She however vows not to lose hope.
“It is like a prison which you don’t know when you will get out,” the hopeful mother said.