Parents launch appeal to save 7-year-old Maria

Unlike many children her age, Maria Achola is not having a joyful, playful life.

Seven-year-old Achola is confined to a hospital bed, tubes and wires running across her weak, painful body.

For more than two months, Achola, a pupil of St Ponsiano Ngondwe primary school in Bweyogerere, has been battling acute hepatic encephalopathy. It is a debilitating condition in which the liver cannot remove toxic substances from the blood. This results in a buildup of toxins in the blood stream, which may cause brain damage.

According to medical records from International Hospital Kampala (IHK), where was admitted by the weekend, Achola first presented at the hospital on May 2, with two-week abdominal pain, yellow eyes for one day and a high-grade fever.

Achola at IHK 

In hospital, Achola, the last born of six, continued to have high-grade fevers and profuse vomiting, all supported with intravenous maintenance fluids and antiemetics-drugs effective against nausea and vomiting. She was later discharged and followed up as an outpatient. But her condition worsened, and she was readmitted after three weeks.

A gastroenterologist, consulted from Nairobi, guided her care and provided contacts for a liver centre in India.

According to Dr Sarah Bonita Musoke, a pediatrician at IHK, in children such as Maria, the Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is associated with hepatic failure and may result in death if left untreated.

“Achola was not immunized against Hepatitis A. Her liver is inflamed and she is experiencing brain impairment,” says Dr Musoke, adding that Achola needs urgent treatment.

HAV is transmitted mainly through eating contaminated food or through blood transfusion.

Dr Musoke adds that in Achola’s case, the onset of encephalopathy requires that she gets a liver transplant.

Achola is currently at stage two of the disease, characterized by drowsiness, gross mental impaireness, slowed response, sullenness and disorientation from time to time. HE has four stages and at stage four, a person goes into coma.  

“We have consulted Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Dehli, India who have recommended that she be transferred to their centre for a transplant,” Dr Musoke says.

Achola is now in IHK’s high dependency unit (HDU), with persistent coagulopathy (clotting and bleeding disorder) and a deteriorating sensorium complicated with bacterial sepsis.

The transplant package, which includes surgeries of both the donor and recipient (including 21-day stay of the recipient and 10-day stay for the donor), consumables and bed cost, is valued at $35,000 (about Shs 90m). A pre-transplant evaluation is estimated at $3000 (about Shs 7.6m), while travel and meals are estimated at $12,000 (about Shs 30m).

Achola’s parents are appealing to the public for donations to help save her life. Her father, Vincent Adoko, may be reached on 0772516035 and A/C no: 2520512181-Centenary Bank, Namirembe Road branch.