–to seek medical attention overseas

AN eight-year-old girl from Blairmont, West Coast Berbice is in dire need of financial assistance to seek medical attention overseas, and relatives are appealing to the public for help.

Allisha Rahim was an energetic “little tomboy” who loved playing outdoors, climbing trees, riding her bicycle and being the neighbourhood sweetheart.

But in 2015, she suddenly took ill and everything changed. According to her mother, Sudarshanie Ramdin, in June 2015 Allisha started complaining of pain in her joints, and was unable to walk.

She was taken to the regional hospital and was treated for juvenile arthritis and sent
home. After that, she was relatively okay for a few months, except for the occasional pain, which the medication took care of. But the other symptoms would soon return, necessitating her having to seek medical attention once again.

When, by 2016, she saw that the child’s health had gotten no better, Sudarshanie said she decided to seek a second opinion and was told that it might very well be Chikungunya.
She had her reservations, however, as the swelling and redness in the joints were not consistent with that particular ailment.

She would subsequently take the child to just about every medical institution she could think of, but no one seemed to know what was ailing her. The one thing she could rely on was the pain medication.

Then last April, she found that the child was having difficulty walking, so she took her to see a paediatrician at the Georgetown Hospital, where she was immediately admitted for observation.

She would spend a total of 22 days there, undergoing various tests and receiving treatment for her symptoms, among them fever, vomiting and excruciating pain.

After being discharged, life seemingly took a turn for the better, until around October when the pain in the joints flared up again.

Said Sudarshanie, “In October, she told me her joints had started to hurt again, and I noticed it was red and swollen.
“So we brought her to the hospital, and she was treated and sent home. But since then, her condition has worsened, and she
Had to be taken to the hospital almost every week, because of the pain, fever, and being unable to stand or walk.

“Eventually, on January 28, she was admitted after the doctors recognised that her blood count was low, and she had what they suspected to be leukemia.”

She said that due to the low platelets and the child’s weakened condition, the doctors are unable to do the tests to determine her illness. And to make matters worse, her condition has gotten so bad, she has had to receive platelets and plasma several times daily.

When this publication visited Allisha at the Georgetown Public Hospital recently, what we saw was that the once chubby, energetic child is now a remnant of her former self, hooked up as she was to an oxygen tank and other machines, and grimacing in pain whenever she tries to speak.

We also found out that she has a lot on her little mind, as she wants to know what she could have done so wrong as to warrant such a punishment.

“I am a good girl, aunty; I don’t do nothing wrong. Why is this happening to me? Please let them help me; I want to get better,” she pleaded.

Allisha’s relatives have since sought the assistance of Saving Hand Emergency Aid (SHEA), an overseas-based NGO which is currently trying to raise the US$30,000 needed so that the child can be flown abroad to receive advance medical care that would allow doctors to diagnose and treat her.
As it is, she can only be treated for the symptoms she is experiencing, but the underlying cause is yet to be determined.

And as her condition worsens, doctors here are trying desperately to do everything in their power to prepare her for the trip and make her as comfortable as possible but she needs the help from everyone to make this possible.

Persons desirous of assisting are asked to make contact with Allisha’s aunt, Seelochnie Ramdin on telephone number 689-3520 and make a deposit in Republic Bank Limited Account number 7306202  or online at a Go-fund-me page set up by SHEA: http://savinghandsemergencyaid.org/allisha-rahim
or
https://www.facebook.com/donate/817025588498075/