Special surgery for girl with needles in stomach
An X-Ray scan shows the needles that were discovered in a three-year-old girl's body. PHOTO | OSCAR KAKAI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- West Pokot County Health officer Ibrahim Longolomoi said the matter had been reported to police.
Doctors at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) lined up a special operation on a three-year-old girl today to remove seven sewing needles mysteriously lodged in her abdomen.
The doctors at Kapenguria County Referral Hospital discovered the needles on Wednesday after a scan but referred the child to the MTRH for the operation as the county facility lacked specialised facilities for the procedure.
MTRH Chief Executive Officer Wilson Aruasa said the operation would require utmost care so as not to interfere with the girl’s vital organs.
He said the needles were placed near her lungs.
“It is still a mystery how this happened. They are close to the liver but doctors have described the condition as stable following a CT-scan,” Dr Aruasa said.
INVESTIGATION
The child was transferred to the Eldoret-based hospital Thursday morning.
He said they are working with the police who are already investigating the matter.
According to Dr Aruasa, the child was brought up by a single mother and the needles are suspected to have been in the body for a long period.
“The grandparents and the mother are well-placed to give information but social workers and police are carrying out investigations,” he added.
But on Thursday, the child’s grandmother, Emily Ling’aa, said she has no idea how the needles got into child’s body.
PAIN
She said the baby started showing discomfort last year.
“The baby started feeling pain and I felt some things in her stomach. I thought it was a normal disease or some problem with digestion,” Mrs Ling’aa said.
“I was shocked to learn of the needles in her body after the scan and wondered how they got inside her body,” she added.
The poor family now says that it has no cash for the treatment of the child.
ELOPE
She said their daughter eloped with another man last year leaving the young girl with them.
“The mother escaped because the child was sickly. She is now married to someone else.
"We used to give her painkillers and we took her to Center Kwanza dispensary. We are stranded and we don’t know where to start from,” Mr John Chepkokei Ling’aa, the grandfather, said.
West Pokot County Health officer Ibrahim Longolomoi said the matter had been reported to police.
