The latest baby delivered to the Ruach Elohim Foundation’s baby box at Swakopmund on Saturday requires medical attention.
Baby Joy, who is the shelter’s 22th baby, has hydrocephalus, a neurological disorder caused by an abnormal build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the cavities deep within the brain.
The excess fluid causes the cavities to widen, putting harmful pressure on the brain’s tissues.
Ruach Elohim Foundation founder Ronel Peters, who has been with Joy at the Mediclinic Swakopmund hospital since Saturday, says she needs an urgent operation.
“Recovery is possible if a shunt is inserted in the brain to drain the excess fluid. We ask the public to make the operation possible by donating towards this important cause. It will relieve her from pain and discomfort.
“We found a neurological surgeon that will perform the operation in Windhoek. We have been here since Sunday and the medical bills are already piling up,” says Peters.
Peters commends Joy’s mother for her courage in placing her baby in the baby-saving box instead of putting her in danger.
The foundation was started in 2018 and offers an alternative to baby dumping through its ‘baby-saver box’ that is built into the boundary wall of the shelter.
The foundation also offers mothers counselling.
Ruach Elohim means ‘breath of God.
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