A 62-year –old grandmother now relives the horror of the events leading up to, and horrifically – following the premature birth of her grand-daughter, now five, having suffered cerebral palsy when she was less than five days old.
“Precious” (not her real name), having been born prematurely at a private hospital in Capital Georgetown, the grandmother says, had to be placed in an incubator where she remained for a few days.

Unfortunately however, the equipment ‘broke down’ or malfunctioned for the second time in two weeks, but allegedly went unnoticed by the staff in the ward. The distraught grandparent said that a family member detected the fiasco and brought it to the attention of the authorities, by which time the child had begun discharging puss from the head.
The baby was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital and immediately taken to theatre and operated on. She received a new lease on life, but unfortunately developed Cerebral Palsy, (CP), having suffered extensive injury to the brain, which resulted in neurological disorder: impairment of body movement and muscle function, as well as her ability to walk and speak.

Greater Hope

But today, even as the family continues to give thanks to God for sparing the child’s life, and for the timely and efficiently intervention of the GPHC, there’s new hope for her, thanks to the professional and amazing humanitarian intervention of Procare Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services, which last week celebrated its second year in operation. The facility is located at Lot 261 Forshaaw and New Garden Streets, Georgetown.

Her parents, having learnt about this new diagnostic and therapeutic facility in town, about six months ago, registered little ‘Precious’ (not her real name), got the Assessment process going and a prognosis was made, after which the appropriate therapy was introduced.
It’s now been about six months since ‘Precious’ – a cute and equally pleasant little girl child, has been a patient of the facility, says Managing Director, Candace Wickham, adding that she has been doing well.

The child who was admitted to the centre unable to walk or speak, is currently receiving speech therapy. And with an air of satisfaction, the director assured the Sunday Chronicle: “We are seeing improvements from her, even in terms of her head balance. Her physical structure as well; her fine motor skills and things like that are improving considerably. So we see her prognosis is very good.”
Such amazing developments on the part of little ‘Precious’ landed her a ‘wind fall’ scholarship as Procare Diagnostic and Therapeutic Service celebrated its 2nd Anniversary on March 3, 2017.

Making the announcement, the director proudly declared: “There is one child from the class room (a Cerebral Palsy case) who has been with us for a while, and we’ve decided to give her that scholarship because we see she has lots of potential in terms of development of her speech, communication and physical intervention. She will therefore be having free therapy on the PROCARE as we seek out a revision in terms of therapy for her for the rest of her life.” Another scholarship was given to another deserving child.

Such good news brought tears to the eyes of her grandmother who had accompanied the child to the function on that occasion.
Meanwhile, commenting on the service provided, Ms. Wickham said the centre is aiming to provide professional care for children and adults.

Services offered include Speech and Language Therapy; Physical Therapy; Occupational Therapy and Family Counselling Therapy as well. There is also a Literacy Programme – Helping children with Dyslexia – difficulty with reading, writing and spelling, intellectual impairment as well. She is urging anyone who has a child/children with Special Needs to come in to Procare Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services,
Albeit, the director stressed the need for parents/guardians to work along with the programme in order that maximum benefits would be realized for the child’s development.

“It is important to note that when persons are doing therapy, once they stick with the intervention plan and actually do the home programme as well, that’s where you see results. Even so with the children. We’re working with them in the classroom and we will work to the best of our ability to use methods and strategies to help them improve their communication, physical development or intellectual capacity. However, parents still have to try their best at home with the children,” she stressed.

Ms. Wickham cited an example where a client undergoing speech therapy was placed on ten sessions, but because she stuck to the programme and was doing her part at home, had begun seeing remarkable results by the 8th session, the result being that today, there is absolutely no evidence that she has ever had a problem with her voice.

Meanwhile, the director observed that since opening doors, the response has been so good that within the first six months they had literally outgrown their space and are looking towards a bigger facility. In house facilities include a children’s classroom which has 25 children being taken care of by staff on the premises. The centre is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30nrs to 17:00 hrs.

The staff compliment comprises the Managing Director who is a Speech and Language Therapist, with a background in Special Education, having studied in Cuba; a trained Formation Teacher who has 30 years of experience working in that field; and four tutors – all trained in special education
She is urging parents with children attending Special Needs Schools to feel free to visit the Procare Diagnostic and Therapeutic Services located at 261 Forshaw and Church Streets, Queenstown at their convenience.

Cerebral Palsy, commonly referred to as “CP” and described by loss or impairment of motor function, Cerebral Palsy is actually caused by brain damage. The brain damage is caused by brain injury or abnormal development of the brain that occurs while child’s brain is still developing — before birth, during birth, or immediately after birth.