The Story of Raphael Adams
Raphael Adams is a boy of 5 years old, living with his mother Mary Anyame in a village called Asamenkese in eastern part of Ghana. Raphael at the moment receives feeding through a catheter, a feeding tube that is connected to his stomach because he is unable to feed through his esophagus.
Urgent cardiothoracic surgery is needed for Raphael Adams to survive.
On 30th August 2011, Raphael and his mother were on their way to visit a relative; on their way his mother was experiencing a stomach pain and felt the need to use a nearby washroom.
At that very moment also, Raphael as a child was complaining of thirst so his mother asked one of the neighbors for water. The neighbor, who was also in a hurry, directed the mother of Raphael to pick up a cup at the corner of her corridor to fetch water from the water jar.
The occupation of the neighbor was to manufacture soap using different types of chemicals, and some of those jars were filled with caustic soda, which she uses to manufacture her soap products.
Without being aware of which jar was filled with the caustic soda, the mother of Raphael took the jar, which is filled with the soda and fetched water from it. As the mother of Raphael was rushing to the washroom because of her stomach pain, her neighbor then gave Raphael the water to drink, not knowing that it contained caustic soda.
Instantly, Raphael started crying, coughing out blood and bleeding through his nose as the chemical begun to irritate within his body system. His mother rushed back quickly as she heard the scream of her son, only to find out that what she fetched as water was rather caustic soda.
Whiles Raphael was still bleeding, he was rushed to the nearest health care center, St. Dominic Hospital, where he was giving some drips and first aid to stop the bleeding.
The father of Raphael was alerted about the incident but he gave no serious attention or showed any concern. His only reason was because he blames the mother of Raphael for being negligent which is the cause of the incident. He has therefore abandoned Raphael and his mother and has not rendered any support to them till today.
After spending two months at the hospital, the situation grew worse and Raphael could not eat for two whole months and was referred to another Hospital in a nearby city, Koforidua.
Since the situation was out of control already, the Hospital in Koforidua immediately referred him to the national Hospital in Accra, Korle-Bu Hospital.
Immediately after they arrived at the hospital, 2 surgeries were carried out to place a catheter in his stomach. The surgery cost Ghc.1.200.00. With her income as a seller at the market, she was unable to pay for the medical expenses, so some of her family members had to sell their own personal belongings in order to generate money to cover the huge medical bills.
A month later, Raphael was discharged from the hospital and a new appointment was scheduled in November 2011 for the final surgery. Due to lack of finances the surgery could not be carried out.
Under normal circumstances, the catheter tube is supposed to maintain Raphael for 3 months after which a surgery must be done. But due to lack of finance the surgery has been delayed for two years.
As a result of that, Raphael has grown lean and weak. On March 2013, his foot was swollen and greenish substance was oozing out of his wound and according to the doctors it was a sign that the date for the final surgery was way overdue.
The family came in contact with the Coree World Aid Foundation for help to save the life of Raphael.
CWAF is pleading with Churches, Organizations, Donors and Individuals for aid and support on behalf of Raphael, to save his life.
Here is a quick video on how Raphael Adams was being fed for the past 2 years.