I met Sammy at the District Hospital in July. He was so malnourished and on top of that had tuberculosis, meningitis and cerebral palsy. The meningitis was so bad that his entire body was arched all of the way back and you could barely hold him. He is only a year and a half, but because of the cerebral palsy his milestones are delayed and he doesn’t have full control of his head and cannot sit without being supported.
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| Sammy on the first day I met him |
I talked to his father, Julius, and he told me that his wife had taken Sammy to the hospital the month before. She left him there and went home and told Julius that Sammy had died then packed her things and left. Julius went to the hospital so that he could bury his son and found him still alive in the ward. He stayed there with him for two whole months and cared for him. It’s encouraging to see a father who cares so much about his son.
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| Sammy a few weeks later. |
My heart broke when I saw Sammy’s situation so I visited him weekly and brought him l clothes, blankets, soap, food and other little things that he needed. He is such a strong little guy and he looked healthier and stronger each time I went to see him.
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| Sammy in his new clean clothes. |
Sammy has improved so much and was discharged from the hospital this week. We would like to move him into the home, but for now we need to make sure that the tuberculosis is fully out of his system before we put him with the other children. The treatment lasts for 90 days and if you miss one day you have to start all over again. He has one month of injections left, then if his blood test shows that he is healthy we will move him into the house.
Until then we moved them into a home near Sammy’s grandmother so that she can keep an eye on his progress and help her son care for him. They are near a hospital so he can be taken daily for his injection.
It is great to see how much progress he is made in such a short amount of time and we are excited to see him continue to improve.
His improvement is remarkable! He looks wonderful! May God continue to bless your work.