Little Akoth on road to recovery

By Martin Kanyegirire
On January 16, 2012, Health&Beauty published a story titled, “Four-year-old haunted by strange disease”. Gertrude Akoth, the little girl who was featured in the story, can now sit — thanks to her sympathisers who ran to her rescue.

The orphan’s buttocks had been eaten up, leaving two deep holes. Akoth had struggled with the ailment amidst abject poverty in Maluku slums, deep inside Tororo municipality.

Before Akoth’s mother succumbed to HIV early in 2011, she took Akoth to hospital where she was given creams and tablets, but her condition did not improve.

A compassionate neighbour, Rosemary Nekesa, took on guardianship of Akoth after her mother’s death. However, the banana vendor, who has other children to look after, could not afford to pay for Akoth’s medical bills on her meagre income.
At the time of the publishing the story, Akoth had suffered from the condition for a year.

Luckily, Good Samaritans came to her rescue. A cancer charitable foundation picked Akoth and Nekesa from Tororo and took her to Kampala for treatment.

Akoth was taken to Mulago where she was diagnosed with three conditions; spina bifida (a birth defect in which the bones of the spine (vertebrae) do not form properly around the spinal cord), a deformity in the legs and pressure sores.

Before she developed the sores, Akoth had undergone an unsuccessful operation to correct the spina bifida defect.Elizabeth Namukose, a counselling psychologist at the cancer foundation, says a doctor at Mulago Hospital revealed that the operation messed up the girls’ sensory nerves, leaving her legs paralysed. Akoth was, therefore, confined to one place  for long hours, sparking off the pressure sores.

The specialists at Mulago advised that Akoth’s wounds be kept clean. Currently, the holes are covering up and healing.
Frequently, Akoth receives treatment from CoRSU, a private non-profit organisation offering preventive, curative and rehabilitation services for people with disability.

“A doctor at CoRSU says there is a possibility of her walking again, though currently she needs support, such as clutches. Eventually, she will be able to move on her own,” Namukose says.

Despite the ailment, Akoth is a jolly intelligent girl. She spends most of her time reciting the alphabet. She loves learning and is a fast learner, but may not be able to go to school because Nekesa does not have a stable source of income.

In fact, Nekesa usually travels back to Tororo with Akoth to check on her other children, which sometimes affects Akoth’s hospital appointments. Akoth has to travel back and forth because the cancer foundation requires a patient to have a care taker at all times.

Health&Beauty would like to thank everyone that heeded to the call and offered any form of assistance to Akoth
 and her guardian.