Baby Cam gets first surgery
. . . thanks to fund-raising drive
ABABY boy born with a rare genetic riboflavin transport deficiency condition had his first cochlear ear implant in Cape Town yesterday, while back in East London the fund-raising drive to pay for his escalating medical bills continues.
Seventeen-month-old Cameron Coetzee, or Baby Cam as he has affectionately become known, is the only child of East London couple Nicole and Kaylem Coetzee, who were by his side at the Kingsbury Hospital yesterday.
Nicole, a speech therapist, described their intense alarm when their son became desperately ill at 10-months old.
“He was not breathing properly, his vocal chords became paralysed and doctors thought it was just reflux,” Nicole said.
“Then he lost strength in his arms and legs and could not even blink his eyes or swallow. He was dying in front of us. It was devastating because we had no idea what was wrong with him. He only just made it to the Red Cross.”
But once Cam was rushed to the children’s hospital in Cape Town in May this year, he went into respiratory distress.
“We almost lost him,” Nicole said.
During his eight-week stay at the Red Cross, doctors diagnosed that the little boy had riboflavin (vitamin B2) transport deficiency and he now gets mega doses of the vitamin every day. “It keeps him alive.” The little boy ingests his food through a feeding tube because he gags when he eats, but is gradually beginning to eat a little yoghurt or a Fling chip.
Nicole said the past few months for her and her husband, a Frere Hospital doctor, had been “intensely stressful”.
She said they were thankful the financial burden of the medical bills not covered by their medical aid had been alleviated by the East London public who had given generously via the Give Baby Cam another Breath Facebook page and supported fund-raising events.
“Cam’s auditory nerve doesn’t always fire so he can’t pick up sounds in a uniform way and because he can’t make sense of what he’s hearing, he is unable to develop speech.
“One operation costs more than R300 000 and so we are using the money from fund-raising. “It has helped us so much. “Cam is such a fighter and we know he is in the best possible hands.
“We will do anything to make his quality of life better,” Nicole said.
Raffle tickets costing R200 for a new Suzuki Swift car will be on sale at Vincent Park (outside Foschini) today and tomorrow. Only 2 000 tickets will be sold and the draw will take place at the Greens Neighbourhood Market next Friday from 9am to 2pm at the Bayside Church in Edge Road, Beacon Bay. A portion of the proceeds of the market and a cycle and fun run on the day will also go towards fund-raising for Cam. — barbarah@