Meet Allan, a four-month-old boy. Allan’s family lives in a single roomed rental house in the coastal region of Kenya, where Allan’s father works as a casual in a construction site while his mother is a stay-at-home mom. The small income they get is just enough to sustain the basic needs of the family, but cannot pay for the surgical care Allan needs.
Allan looks healthy and according to his mother he feeds fairly well. The only thing that strikes one about Allan is the abnormal size of his head. Allan’s head started increasing in size when he was only two months old. The condition was confirmed to be hydrocephalus - an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid - when they visited the nearest local clinic. A shunt is required to drain the excess fluid in the brain, but Allan’s parents cannot afford the surgical costs.
If not treated, Allan is at a risk of having delayed milestones; the accumulation of the cerebral spinal fluid may cause brain damage and he is also at a risk of becoming visually impaired.
The procedure costs $615 and will help reduce the excessive intra-cranial pressure in Allan’s brain, therefore preventing blindness, brain damage, and even death.
“I am hopeful that my son will get well soon. That is my deepest prayer right now,” said Allan’s Mother.
