Kayole mum’s agony after daughter’s burn wounds begin to decay – PHOTOS
A Kayole mother has paid a high price for the recent doctors’ strike after her daughter’s burn wounds started decaying due to lack of appropriate medical attention.
Lillian Akoth and her four-year-old daughter had been admitted for a month at the Kenyatta National Hospital before they were told to return home due to the doctors’ strike.
“My daughter fell from the bed in January and she was scalded by hot water that I had put on a stove to make ugali. I took her to Mama Lucy Hospital and was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital where we were admitted for a month until we were told to go home,” Ms Akoth told Nairobi News on Thursday.
After being discharged, Ms Akoth returned home with her ailing daughter because she could not afford the cost at a private hospital.
She washes clothes for a living, while her husband works as a casual worker in construction sites.
TRADITIONAL HEALER
Left with no option, Ms Akoth sought the intervention of a traditional healer who recommended that she uses ashes of a gunny bag (gunia) to dry up the burns. This only worsened the case and the wound started smelling.
“I started going to a church in my Soweto neighbourhood and it was during one Sunday service that I told them what I have been going through. They came to see my daughter after the service and pledged to fundraise for her treatment,” said Ms Akoth.
Anne Gikuri, a church member of Jesus Miracle House in Soweto, then shared the case of the distraught mother online and has been campaigning for treatment funds.
“When we saw how her entire upper body had been burnt and her left hand burnt to the point of losing its shape, we started a fundsdrive and looked for specialists who can help the little girl. We managed to secure an admission at Kijabe Hospital yesterday (Wednesday) and are hoping to be able to raise money from willing Kenyans,” said Ms Gikuri.
The Kayole mother is hopeful that her daughter will recover even as doctors in Kijabe start a treatment plan that may involve reconstruction surgery.