A 6-year-olds plea for help! Ricardo van der Walt. The family of a young boy, who was born with a hole in his spine, has not given up hope that he will one day be able to lead an almost normal life. 27 February 2014 | Amelia de Ridder Rekord The family of a young boy from Silver Lakes, who has been battling with a birth defect for almost six years, has not given up hope that he might soon be leading a more comfortable life. Ricardo van der Walt (5), who was born with a hole in his spine, will hopefully soon be receiving much needed prosthesis that will support his skewed back. According to his grandmother, Ardene van der Riet, Ricardos back has grown in a 35 degree angle which in turn puts a lot of strain on his lungs, heart and other vital organs. If Ricardo, however, undergoes a major surgery on his back, the pressure on his organs will be relieved and he might soon be able to eat, sit up and some day even walk. When he was born, Ricardo was diagnosed with the worst case of Spina Bifida. When a baby is growing inside its mother, the spine and spinal cord are developing. But sometimes part of the spinal cord and spine does not grow the way they should, leaving an opening where the spinal cord may protrude outside the body. When this happens, a baby is born with Spina Bifida, a term that means split or open spine, Van der Riet explained. With the hole being 6 x 8 cm wide, his lower limbs are non-functional and he has hydrocephalus (water on the brain). As a result of these defects, he is also paralyzed. In order to prevent the spine from growing more skew, the operation has to be done before his back turns to a 180 degree angle. This major surgery will cost the Van der Walt family R 99 290, which is not covered by their medical aid. The procedure is scheduled for 25 March at the Faerie Glen Hospital and the family hopes that they will have raised enough funds by then. Readers can contact Van der Riet, who has also founded a trust for the operation, at [email protected] or 082 5606 310 for more information. — with Bernice Victor-Mills and Ardene van der Riet.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 08:45:38 +0000
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