Boy with rare eye disease appeals for help

By Joseph Muchiri

Embu, Kenya: A bright 13-year-old pupil is facing a dim future because of a rare eye disease.

Maxwell Mutugi was early this month diagnosed with keratonoconous – a defect of cornea – in both eyes and needs an urgent transplant.

The revelation came as a shock to his family, school, and faithful of Embu ACK Diocese where he has been playing drums.

An ophthalmologist told his mother, Mercy Muthoni, a support staff at Embu Regional Blood Transfusion Centre, that cornea transplants was all that could save the boy’s eyesight.

Muthoni remembers how a teacher summoned her to school when Mutugi was in lower primary and told her that the boy was straining to look at the blackboard and should see an eye specialist.

“At the eye hospital, he was given glasses. As his sight weakened over the years, he was given glasses with stronger lens.

“In January I took him to Tenri Hospital from where he was referred to Lions Sight First Eye Hospital,” Ms Muthoni explains.

After Mutugi’s eyes were examined at Lions, Muthoni was told that the condition was rare as it is only diagnosed in one in every 2,000 patients.

She was told the cost of surgery for cornea transplants was Sh400,000, and it is done only when donated corneas are available.

Muthoni said she took a loan of Sh40,000 then borrowed Sh60,000 from a friend and paid a deposit of Sh100,000.

The family is now appealing to well-wishers to help raise the balance.

“I am asking for people to help me and pray for me so that I regain my eyesight,” said Mutugi.

Embu Christian School head teacher Mishek Njeru described Mutugi as one of their brightest pupils, who has managed to score above 400 marks over the last seven years.