“Three-day-old Eliah was born at home just like his 19 siblings, four of whom are his mother’s,” begins our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). However, unlike his other siblings, Eliah from Kenya has a swelling at the back of his head.
AMHF continues, “This was something people from his community had never come across.” Eliah’s parents immediately took him to the hospital and were informed that their son had occipital meningocele, a birth defect involving the neural tube.
Some causes of a defect like this include a family history of the condition, folic acid deficiency, and exposure to toxins during pregnancy. If not treated, Eliah is at risk for stunted mental and physical development, and motor difficulties.
Eliah’s parents are farmers and have lost most of their stock due to a drought and are unable to afford treatment on their own. “We hardly go to the hospital in my community but since this was strange, we had to,” says Eliah’s mother, “I hope we get help and have Eliah as healthy as his siblings.”
$805 will cover the cost of the spina bifida closure operation, where a surgeon will place the brain mass back into the skull and close the hole. It also covers the cost of Eliah’s stay in the hospital, post-operative physical therapy, and diagnostic imaging.
