Child loses limbs before he can learn to walk

Christine Amina gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, complete with all limbs. But even before her last born William Osako could learn to walk, he had to lose his legs. Amina has had to re-adjust her life since March 12, 2012. Though that was three years ago, she remembers the sequence of events that changed little Osako and her family’s life.

The highrise building in which the single-room is situated in Dandora Phase 4 is what they call home. Here, the child can be seen seated in the balcony. He appears lonely, probably because other children his age are in school. His mobility is limited.

At only three years, he may be blissfully unaware of the magnitude of his predicament. “He has grown up with the condition, but I believe he at times looks at the stumps and wonders why his are not like other children,” says Amina.

Amina says on the fateful day she returned from hospital for the child’s final vaccination, and spent the day at home with him. Later in the afternoon she left to buy some food at a nearby grocery. She did not want to disrupt Osako’s sleep, so she left him in bed.

“There had been a blackout the entire day, even by the time I left for the market,” says the mother of five.

While away, power flowed back, surged and a spark from the overhead bulb apparently caught the curtain separating the two sides of the single room. The fire quickly spread and caught the mattress the baby was sleeping on. The smoldering mattress started burning the baby’s legs and it is a miracle he was not burnt to death.

Fortunately, a neighbour’s child fascinated by small babies had just arrived from school and was visiting to check on Osako when she realised the house was on fire. She dashed out to seek help from the ground floor. “She ran to the local butcher who turned off the main switch and rushed up to save Osako. The butcherman tried to use water to put the fire out, but in vain. He had to get into the burning house to save my baby,” says Amina. Soon after, the infant was taken to a local chemist for treatment; the burns were bandaged, with the mother assured that all would be well. However, when the bandages were peeled off three days later as advised by the pharmacist, Osako’s legs had started rotting and skin from the burnt areas was falling of. This forced the family to take the boy to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), where they would be given the devastating news that his legs were severely damaged and had to be amputated.

Mother and son stayed in hospital for slightly over a year, accruing a bill of Sh1.5 million. Luckily, they only had to pay Sh200,000 because the hospital waived the rest.

During the entire period her son was hospitalised, Amina had to be a full time resident because her baby was still small and had to breastfeed. The other children were left under their father’s care, Walter Odhiambo, who would shuttle between hospital, work and home.

“My world fell apart because I could not continue with my fish business. The business is yet to recover,” says Amina. She no longer has time to work during the day, not until her older children come back from school. Only then can she leave home to open her business, if only for a few hours.

Yet taking care of the boy is not her biggest worry, nor is the fact that the seven of them live in a tiny room, but the fact that the boy cannot even start school because there is no special school nearby for children like him.

Osako’s father is a casual worker who has to put food on the table for his brood, leaving him with little for medical care. Earlier on, the boy got some artificial limbs from the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya, but he has since outgrown them.

Meanwhile, little Osako visits the Dandora Dispensary for physiotherapy every Tuesday, and thankfully, a humanitarian organisation takes care of the cost. The situation is however dire because during the last visit to KNH, the mother was advised to go take the boy for X-ray because doctors suspect some of his limb bones may be developing abnormally.

“I could not afford the Sh2,000, I had already spent Sh500 as consultation fee; so I just have to wait for matters to sort themselves out. However, I would like him to start going to school, because education may be his greatest hope.”