Levis is a nine-month-old boy from Kenya. He and his brother live with their mother and maternal grandparents. They’re a close-knit family of subsistence farmers.
Levis has congenital hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess fluid builds up in the brain, causing pressure and swelling in the skull. If untreated, the condition will lead to progressive enlargement of Levis’s head, as well as permanent brain damage, impaired vision, and even death.
Levis’s mother first knew that something wasn’t right last November. Suddenly, her once happy baby boy was becoming very irritable. A few weeks later, she started noticing that his head was growing abnormally fast. She tried giving him medication from the local dispensary, but nothing helped.
In April, a team of doctors from our medical partner’s care center identified Levis’s condition as hydrocephalus. They advised Levis’s mother to bring him to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.
On May 12, Levis will have a shunt surgery to drain the fluid from his brain. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $685 to fund the operation.
Levis’s mother is grateful to Watsi for supporting her son’s treatment. She says, “I am determined to overcome this illness and not let it ruin Levis’ life.”
