Brain tumour causes boy to lose sight, father flees

MUKONO - A 39-year-old mother in Mukono is struggling to care for her 12-year-old son, who lost his sight after developing a brain tumour. 

Oliver Kyomuhendo, a resident of Nantabulirirwa cell in Goma division, Mukono municipality, says her son, Edward Kisekka, has endured unbearable pain. 

She now faces the burden of raising him alone after the boy’s father, James Lubulwa Ntale, abandoned them several years ago. 

“Edward was born healthy and began school like any other child,” Kyomuhendo said. “He joined a kindergarten near our home, but in 2019, things changed.” 

While in Primary One, Kisekka began experiencing strange symptoms. “He would become dizzy, collapse and injure his face,” Kyomuhendo said. 

She said it was on three occasions that her son’s teachers called her regarding these episodes. 

Whenever it happened, Kyomuhendo would take him to Mukono General Hospital for treatment. 

On the third occasion, after he returned to school, the teachers noticed that he could no longer see. 

“I was called to school again. I fainted when they told me he had lost his sight,” Kyomuhendo recalled tearfully. 

“After regaining consciousness, I rushed him to Mukono General Hospital, but the doctors said they couldn’t manage his case and referred us to Naguru Hospital.”

At Naguru in Kampala, further examinations led to a referral to Mengo Hospital, where eye specialists at the Albert Cook Clinic discovered that Kisekka had a brain tumour at an advanced stage. 

Doctors at Mengo asked for sh15m for surgery and over sh6m for medication.

Kyomuhendo did not have the money. “I had nothing, but tears. I cried before the doctors with my son, who was in terrible pain from constant headaches,” Kyomuhendo said.

The boy’s condition worsened. He suffered extreme headaches and digestive complications. 

“He would vomit minutes after eating,” Kyomuhendo said. A sympathetic specialist referred them to Mulago Hospital, where Kisekka finally received some medical relief. 

“Although services are said to be free, the costs are high,” Kyomuhendo explained. 
“One CT scan, which we’re supposed to do every three months, costs sh1m. There’s also a daily tablet that costs sh15,000.” 

Kisekka underwent two operations at Mulago, but specialists revealed that the tumour had fused with his brain, making further surgery nearly impossible. 

Doctors have now referred Kisekka to South Africa for advanced treatment, estimated at sh40m. However, she says Kyomuhendo cannot work due to her son’s condition. 

“For survival, we’ve relied on my mother, Beatrice Babanyisa, from Kabonero village in Kibiito sub-county, Bunyangabu district,” she said. “She recently sold her last cow to help her grandson. That’s why I’m appealing to the public and well-wishers for support.” 

Kyomuhendo once hired a maid to care for Edward so she could work at a Chinese factory in Namanve Industrial Park. Unfortunately, neighbours caught the maid abusing Kisekka, forcing Kyomuhendo to ask her to leave. 

Kisekka, despite being blind and out of school since Primary One, speaks fluent English. 

“I want to get treatment so I can return to school,” he said. Kyomuhendo met Kisekka’s father, Lubulwa, in 2010 while working at Kataraha Health Centre IV in Kabarole district. After giving birth, they moved to Kibuli in Kampala and later Mukono. 

“In 2015, he started neglecting us, and in 2017, his relatives chased me out of the house. I finally left in 2018, just before Edward fell sick in 2019,” she said. For any kind of help, Kyomuhendo can be reached at phone numbers: 0772388430/0704456149.