UTH TO OPERATE OF ‘NEEDLES BOY’

The University Teaching Hospital says it will next month operate on a three-year-old-boy who was evacuated from Chipata in Eastern Province with 44 needles and wires embedded in his body.
UTH Head of Clinical Care at the Children’s Hospital Dr. Musaku Mwenechanya said the boy still has 18 needles in his body which need to be removed.
Dr. Mwenechanya explained that the hospital is currently working on the boy’s diet to ensure that he gains weight before undergoing an operation schedule for January 7th 2019.
He said the boy was weighing 9.6 kilograms when he just arrived from Chipata Central Hospital but has now gained to 11.9 kgs.
He said the hospital is still making preparations for the surgical operation as the hospital requires specialized doctors and equipment to conduct the surgery.
Dr. Mwenechanya disclosed that some needles are located in very delicate positions such as the chest and abdomen which will require special attention during the operation.
Dr. Mwenechanya disclosed this when First Lady Esther Lungu visited the boy at UTH to share Christmas gifts with the newborn babies at the facility.
The First Lady took time in the ward to interact with the boy and the mother and gave them Christmas presents.
Mrs. Lungu encouraged the mother of the boy to continue praying for the boy’s quick recovery saying God is the only one who knows how the needles entered the boy’s body and how they could be removed.
She said the first family will continue supporting the boy to ensure that the needles are removed from the body so that he could get better.
And the boy’s mother Rosemary Jere, 19, thanked the First Lady and the first family for the support.
Ms. Jere told the First Lady that her son fell sick while staying with the father in Lundazi town when he was two years old.
She said she only discovered that the boy had needles in body when she took him to Chipata hospital this year where some were removed.
The mother could not tell how the needles entered the boy’s body and who inserted them but blamed the father’s family who were keeping her son.
Doctors at Chipata Central Hospital removed 24 needles from the boy’s body before evacuating him to Lusaka.