The Sunday News
ALL is now set for Baby Manqoba Mabhena’s liver transplant, with the Mabhenas last night flying out via Fly Emirates, to India where the operation is set to take place.
In a telephone interview before boarding the flight on Tuesday night, Baby Manqoba’s father; Lawson confirmed that all was now in place for the operation.
He paid tribute to all that assisted the family to raise $51 000 for the operation.
“As a family we are extremely humbled by the support we received from colleagues, friends, corporates and members of the public as we even exceeded the amount we had targeted by $1 000.
“Right now, we are about to board our flight as a happy and confident family, knowing that a lot of people prayed for us and are still praying for us. In India all the bookings have been made and we have been advised that the baby’s recovery period after the operation will be approximately a month,” said Lawson.
He said God’s power had been shown to them, as a couple of months ago they did not know where to turn to but through God’s grace the operation was now going to take place.
The now ten-month old Manqoba was born with a condition called biliary atresia which was diagnosed when she was five months old.
But then, surgeons couldn’t perform corrective surgery because her liver was already showing signs of significant damage leaving a liver transplant as the only option. Her liver can fail any minute from now.
According to health experts, biliary atresia is a relatively rare disease that begins in early infancy and affects one in every 10 000 to 20 000 infants and it is life-threatening if uncorrected.
Symptoms such as swollen abdomen, weight loss, itching, muscle loss, loss of appetite, easy bruising, low energy and weakness among other wide array of symptoms characterizes Manqoba’s life.
The #SaveManqoba campaign saw journalists, artists, companies and individuals from across the country come together to raise the $50 000 which was required for the operation. This was meant to cover hospital costs ($43 000), air fares, visa fees and any eventualities.
