HEARTACHE FOR STOKE CITY STAR FOOTIE GIRL TRAGEDY ‘HARDEST DECISION’
Striker’s wife shares horror of switching off tot life support
THE wife of footballer Benik Afobe has spoken about having to take the heartbreaking decision to turn off their toddler’s life support machine.
Devastated Lois Smith and the Stoke City striker, 26, had to make the agonising choice after doctors said daughter Amora had irreversible brain damage. The two-year-old was rushed to hospital in November after being sick during the night and crying in pain.
Her condition got worse and she was placed on a ventilator at the Royal Stoke University Hospital after she stopped breathing. An MRI scan showed swelling to her brain and permanent brain damage. Lois, 27, said: “We sat by her ventilator, talking to her and willing her to fight, but we knew. “Then the doctors told us she had brain damage and there was nothing they could do.
“It was the hardest decision, but we called all of our family to be with us to say goodbye. “The machine was switched off at 10 o’clock – it was the most awful moment of my life.” Amora’s funeral in December was attended by friends and family as well as many of Benik’s teammates. Tests are ongoing after Amora’s postmortem was inconclusive.
Lois believes her girl contracted meningitis, which proved fatal because she had been born with a rare kidney condition called nephrotic syndrome. The couple had already been warned she
THE condition causes the kidneys to leak protein into the urine, causing the body to swell and leading to a greater risk of infections.
A small number of children have inherited congenital nephrotic syndrome and may eventually have kidney failure and need a transplant. It is would need a kidney transplant by the age of six.
Ex-Wolves striker Benik, who is on a season-long loan to Championship club Bristol City, and Lois paid for Amora to be seen regularly at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Lois said: “She saw a great consultant but hardly any of the medical profession know about the condition.”
Lois is now working with the
Nephrotic Syndrome Trust to raise funds for research.
She said: “Amora’s was a congenital condition and both Benik and I have the gene. Because we both carry it there is a one in four chance our children will have nephrotic syndrome.”
Luckily, their other daughter, one-year-old Alba, has tested negative.
Lois added: “It’s vital that more money goes into researching this condition and I want to help in every way I can.
“That’s why I’m telling our story. If it helps one child then she hasn’t died in vain.” usually controlled with steroid medication.
Symptoms include swelling around the eyes and lower legs and rest of body.
Nephrotic syndrome can happen because of kidney problems, lupus, diabetes, sickle cell anaemia or can be inherited from the parents.