LITTLE baby Ovir (Lloyd Ovir Griffith), who has been diagnosed with cancer at just two years old, is on the verge of receiving help from a hospital overseas which has since written to the parents.

Thanks to an article published in the Sunday Chronicle dated Sunday, February 19, 2017, the Saint Judes Children Hospital in New York became aware of Ovir’s cancer illness and now wants to help him. The boy’s mother, Ms. Amanda Ford, updated Chronicle on Thursday that the swelling of Ovir’s tummy went down after his first cycle of chemotherapy and that he is playing as normal and doing reasonably well.

She said she received a letter from the hospital overseas inviting a parent to accompany baby Ovir for treatment there. She is elated. Apart from the hospital, she said her Brother-in-law who lives in England also saw the article and called the family to ask why he was not informed of Ovir’s condition. He is now ready to help them financially.

Baby Ovir’s doctor at Georgetown Hospital is now in the process of completing paperwork to forward to the New York hospital. She is hoping the doctor will act will haste so that the process can be expedited.  In the meantime, Ovir’s parents are working on securing a passport for the child and after all paperwork is completed, they will approach the United States Embassy for visas.

Ms. Ford said local actor Chris Gopaul will help her find the right person to help her fill out the passport form. Gopaul has been supporting the family.

Baby Ovir had quite a normal birth, but at around two weeks old, a relative told his mom that she didn’t like how he was breathing. Ever since then, it was a constant trip to the hospital after doctors said that Ovir had asthma.

Then one day, Ovir’s babysitter drew to the attention of his mother that there was a certain hardness on the left side of his belly area.

“I took him to the hospital thinking it was an abscess. They did an ultrasound and then advised me to go private and do another ultrasound. I went to Woodlands and did it and took it back to Georgetown and then the doctor transferred me to Surgical Clinic,” explained Ms. Ford.

She recalled that it was on last December 11 that she went home and was playing with her son and watching a movie when all of a sudden, his eyes started rolling up and he started throwing up the milk he had just had.

“So I get afraid, picked up a little purse with some money and run out the house without even a pamper. I rushed him to ‘Emergency’ and they admit him from then. They admit him for throat infection and fever and then the doctor said it’s a mass.”

Since then, Ovir’s parents were sent to get an MRI done for which the Ministry of Health stood half the cost at the Cancer Institute. They then had to pay to do a CT scan.

“The doctor didn’t like what he see in the report and they take him back to Cancer Institute and punctured his belly where they take out something and the father (Mr. Lloyd Griffith) take it to Woodlands Hospital and had to pay $60,000 for that.”

Ovir’s mom works as a ward maid at the Georgetown hospital and had remained at her son’s side on a 24-hour basis while he was there.

“I don’t go home. I stay right here, work, bathe and sleep on two chairs. I hardly get to sleep because I’m here with him all the time. I play with him, make him happy and I feed and leave him for work and check him every two hours. I don’t know the last day I see my house,” the caring mother related.

After baby Ovir finished the first cycle of chemotherapy, he was taken home to rest. The parents can be reached at telephone numbers 672 1381 (dad) and 686 7033 (mom).