Abu-Bakr Cassiem, 2, suffered severe viral pneumonia in 2022, which left his left lung and one lobe of his right lung destroyed.
The parents of a 2-year-old boy from Grassy Park, previously from Athlone, have launched a public appeal to support their son’s recovery from a series of infections that almost cost him his life.
Abu-Bakr Cassiem was 10 months old in August 2022 when he was admitted to Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital with pneumonia and a high temperature, says his mother Azraah Hendricks.
Doctors found that part of his right lung had collapsed, he had an infection in his left lung and he had contracted adenovirus, rhinovirus and influenza, said his mother.
Later the doctors had advised that Abu-Bakr needed to be ventilated to aid his recovery.
“This was the scariest decision we had to make, and within a few hours, he went into the theatre and was placed on the ventilator. After four hours in the waiting room, the first words that were said to us as parents were, ‘Mommy and daddy, your baby is very sick,’ and this is when my heart broke,” said Ms Hendricks.
She said her son had continued to struggle with the lung infection and as his other organs had started to fail doctors had told the family to prepare for the worst.
But then overnight, Abu-Bakr’s condition had improved and he had come off the ventilator a few days later.
Abu-Bakr had been scheduled to have a tracheotomy in October 2022, but he had caught Covid-19 while in the hospital, and the surgery was postponed to November 2022.
According to Ms Hendricks, doctors have a four-year plan for Abu-Bakr, which includes weekly neuro-physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and further tests.
His paediatric pulmonologist, Dr Taryn Gray, said: “Abu-Bakr suffered severe viral pneumonia in 2022 which left his left lung and one lobe of his right lung destroyed.”
Abu-Bakr is now living with one functioning lung. He is currently back in hospital showing signs of pneumonia. The family have medical aid, but it does not cover everything and they are appealing for help through a backabuddy campaign to cover medical expenses.