9-year-old boy with imperforate anus dying slowly as condition deteriorates

A nine-year-old boy suffering from imperforate anus has dropped out of School over stigmatization as his health condition has critically deteriorated.

The mother of the victim attempted suicide after family members also stigmatized against her and the child. They have since left the family house to stay with the chief of Abodobi, a farming community in the Fanteakwa North District of the Eastern Region.

Narh Kwao was born with a rare birth defect. Surgeons at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital performed Colostomy for him during infancy to temporarily enable him to pass out faeces through a small opening in the abdomen where the lower and upper part of the intestines were attached.

Starr News’ Eastern Regional Correspondent, Kojo Ansah’s visit to the despaired family at Abodobi village observed a more deteriorating health condition of the boy. The Stoma has been infected and swollen while the tummy is bloating and swelling. Tummy cramps are frequent pain Narh Kwao endures almost every day.

An imperforate anus also known as anorectal malformation is a birth defect that happens while the baby is still growing in the womb making the baby’s anus improperly developed to pass stool normally from the rectum out of the body.

According to research one (1 ) out of every 5,000 babies has an imperforate anus or other malformation of the anus or rectum. It occurs more often in boys than in girls. In girls, the rectum, bladder, and vagina of a female baby with an imperforate anus sometimes share one large opening called Cloaca

Uncle of the boy, Tetteh Solomon told Starr News, the family has not been able to return to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for surgery to permanently fix the birth defect due to poverty.

“We are poor farmers here. We don’t have money. So this condition of our son has become a headache for us. His condition keeps deteriorating but we don’t have money to send him back to Korle Bu for the surgery to fix the defect. so we are appealing to philanthropists and government to help us.”

Soaked with tears, the single mother of the boy, Gifty Dede narrated how she attempted suicide after some family members stigmatized against her and the Child over his condition.

“I have been crying every day. I feel pain because of the condition of my son. Recently I attempted to poison myself because my brother whom I was staying with warned us not to touch his cup, bowls and anything in the house because of the son’s condition. So the Chief here asked that I come to stay with them”.

She added “I am appealing for support to help my son undergo surgery to enable him to defecate normally through the anus”

Instructive to note that, Father of the victim, Nobi Peter, a 43-year-old farmer is currently serving a seven (7) year jail term for chopping off fore-finger the victim in July this year.

The boy who stayed alone with the convict took a small piece of fish to eat banku, a local delicacy before leaving to Church on a fateful day, however, his father became furious and angrily stormed the Church, violently dragged him out to the house, put his fingers on a pestle and chopped off his fore-finger.

Starrfm