Sick Omphile (8) can’t play outside with friends
Young boy has a permanent oxygen tank to breathe
As you enter the small RDP house in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, a young boy is strapped to an oxygen machine watching television.
Eight-year-old Omphile Choba suffers from heart and lung dysfunction that requires him to use an oxygen machine 24/7.
His mother, Emily Choba, said her son grew up in hospital as he has spent so much time there. “In January 2014, when he was four, that is when we found out he has cor pulmonale and chronic lung dysfunction. He spent the whole year in hospital.
“He started being sick in 2011. Doctors first said he had kwashiorkor, then it was bronchitis, then asthma.”
According to www.health- line.com, cor pulmonale is a condition that most commonly arises out of complications from high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries.
It is also known as right-sided heart failure because it occurs within the right ventricle of your heart.
The ventricle is pushed to its limit and ultimately fails.
Choba said she was admitted to hospital for depression after she found out about Omphile’s condition.
He spends his time indoors. “Omphile has a makeshift wired car and soccer ball that he loves, but he cannot play for more than 10 minutes. Even when his friends visit, he cannot play for long without resting,” she said.
Even a 15m walk to an outside toilet is wearisome for Omphile. “We use the same potty he used when he was a two. The last time nurses were visiting us, we were admonished for using a bucket or potty toilet for his excretions. [But] we do not have a toilet inside the house and it is hard for him to walk to the toilet, and in winter we have to keep him warm.
“Omphile needs a big cot. We have to sleep with him in our small bedroom and it gets difficult in summer because there isn’t enough ventilation. It is three of us in a double bed.”
Choba took us through her monthly visit to the hospital. “When we get out of the hired transport, I put him and his cylinder on the wheel chair and have to try to balance them both. One time I lost balance and the cylinder fell on him.”
The family lives on Omphile’s father’s salary and his disability grant.
“I had to leave my job to look after him. His father earns R2 700 and we get R1 600 from his grant. If there is load shedding we use the cylinder and if he is sick we pay R1 200 for electricity because we use it more,” Choba said.
He has never been to school because his mom struggled to find a specialised school for him. “I wish I could go to school because I have never been to school and all my friends can read and write,” said Omphile.
‘ ‘ In January 2014 ... we found out he has cor pulmonale