Edo government battles to save toddler with severe burns

Global Patriot Staff April 3, 2017 Health, Local, News Leave a comment 683 Views

AGENE GODWIN ,Benin

Edo State Government Monday appealed to medical doctors handling the case of five year-old Martins Denisson, who suffered severe fire burns as a result of fire outbreak in their residence, to do all in their power to save the baby.

Doctors say the baby’s body surface is over 52 per cent burnt because of the impact of the fire which occurred last week in their residence and consumed his elder brother.

Chief of Staff to Governor Godwin Obaseki, Taiwo Akerele, who paid an unscheduled visit to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) on behalf of the governor urged the doctors to do all within their capacity to ensure the boy remains alive.

Akerele who was received by one of medical doctors handling the boy’s case, Dr Philip Osho, as well as the child’s mother, said the Obaseki led government placed high premium on the lives of every citizen.

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He said it was borne out of this that the government decided to offer financial support for the treatment of the baby.

“We must do all to ensure the survival of this child because we don’t know what the future holds for him, who knows if he may be the President of this country,” he said.

The victim was rescued from what has been described as a mysterious fire incident about a week ago, while the parents were out of the house.

The five year- old Martins and his brother were said to have been locked in the room of the ‘face-me-I-face-you’ apartment by their father who was said to have rushed out to get something, when the fire incident occurred.

While Martins was lucky to have been rescued alive by neighbours through the window, his elder brother was however not so lucky.

While explaining the degree of the burns, Osho said the boy’s whole skin in the affected areas were completely gone.

“If you look at the surface of the burnt area, you will see that it is brown, usually if it is pink, it means it is superficial, but this brown one means it is full thickness, the whole skin is gone.

“So, this child needs to be taken to theater,probably three to four times, to remove all the burnt areas. He however needs a lot of blood during the removal, because a lot of blood is lost in the process.

“Thereafter, we will look for skin to cover these places, else, the child will be here until the second coming of the Lord,” he said.

The doctor however explained financial constraint as the major challenge preventing the child from proper medical care.

He said that the child has already missed some dose of the anti-biotics treatment he has been placed on over the inability of the parents to get money to buy it.

“As we speak, the plan is to even change the anti-biotics treatment to a higher one, but the question is, where will the money come from.

The boy’s mother, Sofia Denisson, 36, who was appreciative of the gesture from the Edo government, cried that she does not want to lose the child, as she has already lost one through the fire incident.

It would be recalled that ‎Ijorbgo Street in Upper Sokponba Road, Ikpobha Okha Local Government Area was penultimate Sunday thrown into mourning following an unexplained inferno that razed down a bungalow killing Martins’ elder brother.

The victim was said to have been locked inside a room with his younger brother by their father who was said to have gone out for undisclosed reasons.
Their mother, a pap seller was said to have gone to a nearby market to buy corn for the next day’s business and went with their five months old daughter leaving the boys in the care of their father when the incident happened.