Chukwudi Obi
31 January 2008
Lagos — A cleric and his wife whose only child, Andrew, turned out to be a Down Syndrome victim with ailing heart condition, are lamenting their ordeal, but with the conviction that God is in firm control of every situation.
HIS eyes were closed and his chest heaved up and down in rhythm with his slow breathing. His frail fingers clasped tightly to a little toy while he kept squeezing his face in pains; sadness written all over the parents' face.
For one, they had feared that he might not live long enough to celebrate his first birthday on December 25, 2007. But Baby Andrew Kuku survived and was with his family and fellow kids at St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Sagbama, Bayelsa State to celebrate his birthday.
At 13 months, both his friends and family members are worried over the boy's fate as he is practically battling to stay alive. He has Down syndrome, the genetic condition in which there are 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46. Additionally, doctors have disclosed that Andrew has a weak heart.
For the religious parents, what should have been a joyous Christmas and new year following the birth of their new baby, is gradually turning into a sad long tale. Andrew is their only child.
According to his father, Rev. Anthony Kuku, who prior to Andrew's birth, has never heard of the condition called 'down syndrome', his joy knew no bounds when he heard that his wife had put to bed. But the joy was short- lived as it was soon discovered that the child has a genetical challenge.
"On Christmas day, I was on the pulpit preaching when I heard that my wife had put to bed. It was a thing of joy and a lot of people called him different names and I said that his name is Andrew because he is going to be a preacher as that was the covenant I made with God concerning his life. But two months later, we began to notice abnormal features of growth. I had to summon courage to go to a doctor in Warri who told us that he was suspecting Down Syndrome. That was the first time I had that name so I was wondering what Down Syndrome was," he said.
Andrew's parents, Rev. Anthony and Rosemary Kuku, are gradually coming to terms with the situation of their first and only child, with the help of the Down Syndrome Association of Nigeria (DSAN); a charity they had never heard about before.
They were to get in contact with the association when Mr. Kuku visited a friend and accidentally saw the association's awareness week celebration on Newsline, a national network programme on television.
He immediately contacted the association's president, Mrs Rose Mordi, who urged him to come over to the Ogunlana Drive office of the association in Surulere, Lagos.
Few days later, the couple came to the centre and were taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) for a check- up on the health condition of the child which is normally carried out by the association on all the babies with Down syndrome brought to them.
At the paediatrics department, doctors diagnosed that baby Andrew also had a life threatening heart condition and needed an urgent corrective surgery to enable him survive and live.
That came as a blow to the couple. The father confessed that at a time, he was compelled to question God why he was passing through the travail, he said.
"I felt very bad and wept. It got to a point when I had to ask God if this was the covenant I had with him. He told me to commit my wife and children into his hands but this was happening to me. When that report came, I could not pray again, even the next Sunday when I got home I could not preach.
The whole congregation could notice that the spirit of depression was hovering over me. It took my Bishop and his wife to encourage me and my wife. He told me that if God allows it, he will make provision readily to stop this particular problem and will not kill the child but if it is his will that the child goes, we should still praise him."
According to Paediatric Echocardographic report, Baby Andrew has perimembranous ventricular septal defect which results in a complete endocardial cushion defect requiring urgent cardiac surgery.
According to the DSAN's president, Mrs. Rose Mordi, the child is in a very critical condition.
"His condition is so serious that right now we have to put him on anti-heart failure drugs to sustain him and stabilize his condition because the cardiologist said that something needs to be done very quickly. When it has to do with this congenital heart condition, as the baby gets older the condition gets more serious because the heart is pumping over time and it can gradually get to a stop. We are running against time as far as Andrew's case is concerned and we need to do something and the only thing that needs to be done is to carry out corrective heart surgery as soon as possible," she said.
According to surgeons, the amount needed to save Baby Andrew's life is N1.2 million with the breakdown given thus;Air fare to India, Passport and Visa acquisition /logistics for baby and mother is N470 000; pre-surgery investigation and tests is N200 000; the surgery will cost N450 000 while the accommodation and feeding is put at N130 000.
The missionary parents of the baby are calling on the Delta and Bayelsa state governments, alongside well meaning individuals to help them save baby Andrew.
Said the boy's father, "I appeal to my fellow brethren in the ministry and the congregation in the body of Christ to come around so that the enemy can be defeated, so that the ministers of God can sing praises to God. I call on our leaders in the Niger Delta region where I work as a missionary; they know that our work is the missionary work and presently for six months our workers have not been paid, so anybody going for missionary work is going for a selfless service. Our coming to Lagos was paid for by some good citizens and DSAN. Please come to our help and save Baby Andrew " he said.
He is still confident that Andrew will grow up to become a preacher which is the promise he made to God concerning his life.
In the words of the president of DSAN, Mrs. Mordi: "We have written to some corporate bodies and individuals, we have made personal contacts with our partners asking them to support us to save this boy's life by raising the fund we need. It is just N1.2 million for this operation and will cover the air ticket for the mother, and baby; the surgery fees and accommodation.
"We are just asking for the fund for the basic things we need not for any luxury, so we have calculated it based on the estimate given to us by the hospital. We are still hopeful that people out there who have the heart to help might be able to help us to save this boy's life," For the parents of Baby Andrew, especially the father who left a job with an oil servicing firm to answer the call from God, they are calling on the government of Delta and Bayelsa States to come to their aid and to also help the association that have been taking care of them since they have been coming from Bayelsa state to Lagos for treatment and other logistics. Nigerians should please not allow Andrew to die..He must not live in vain," the woman stressed.
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