Six-month-old Christopher Sahadeo appears normal—cooing, smiling and kissing his mother like any normal baby but beneath his skull, his brain is slowly bleeding and if left untreated he could die.
The baby was injured last October after his parents’ wooden home at Enid Village, Rio Claro collapsed after heavy rainfall.
The ceiling tiles dropped on his head, knocking him unconscious. His mother, Christine Sahadeo, 21, had to run to safety with her unconscious baby before the entire house came tumbling down.
Now four months after the incident, baby Christopher is battling with periodic seizures, vomiting, lethargy and occasional bouts of unconsciousness. He spent three months recuperating at the San Fernando General Hospital but was discharged in early January with the hope that his condition will improve.
In an interview at the family’s home, Sahadeo said they have to find money to do CT-scans and MRI scans on a regular basis to monitor the bleeding.
“It costs us about $3,000 to do a test and right now my husband is not working so it is really hard for us,” Christine said at her make-shift Rio Claro home yesterday.
Because Christopher is on a regimen of steroids, his appetite has increased and Sahadeo said he drinks three tins of baby milk every week.
A tin of milk costs over $100 and over 100 disposable diapers cost $250 a box.
Sahadeo said her neighbours, family and a few Good Samaritans helped them rebuild a house using some of the wood from their old house. However, Sahadeo said the new house is also in danger of collapse as water from the road continues to flow through their property undermining the structure.
The house does not have a stairway and to access the living room the occupants climb on a stack of bricks. Part of the house has no windows. Sahadeo said they get went when rain falls heavily. However, she said her main concern was not the house but her son’s medical care.
“The house is still unfinished but we are grateful for the help. Right now we are concerned about saving my son’s life. The hospital said if he needs to do brain surgery, it will be done but we have to make up money to do the preliminary tests,” Sahadeo said.
Anyone willing to assist the family can contact them at 266-2729.