The family of Algoa Park toddler Keanu Glass — who has been examined by specialists in Cape Town thanks to the kindness of the Gqeberha community — have received a heartbreaking prognosis as the little boy’s condition continues to deteriorate.
Doctors at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital informed the family that an operation to remove a cyst from the one-year-old’s brain, behind his right eye, would be too risky and he would have only a 10% chance of surviving the procedure.
The news has left his grandfather, Barry Glass, crushed and in desperate search of some means to help his grandson as the boy continues to suffer pain and debilitating seizures.
“I refuse to believe there is nothing we can do,” he said.
“Surely there is some treatment that can help my grandson. I am desperate to get this boy some help.”
Keanu’s family first took him to Dora Nginza Hospital to be assessed, and subsequently visited Livingstone Hospital’s neurosurgeon and where an MRI revealed the cyst on his brain.
He was initially scheduled for surgery on August 18, but the operation never took place, allegedly without an explanation.
According to Glass, only after the article was published in The Herald did a doctor at Livingstone Hospital admit that he could not perform the procedure, and Keanu was referred to the Red Cross in Cape Town.
Glass took to the streets in Algoa Park with a placard, begging for money that would help his son Edmund secure accommodation in Cape Town while Keanu received treatment.
A good Samaritan reached out to Glass and paid R20,000 into his bank account.
“I phoned the man and told him there must be some kind of mistake, he paid too much.
“But he told me there was no mistake and we should use the money to take care of our little boy.”
But the family’s hope for better treatment for the toddler was shattered earlier this week when they received the devastating news.
“The doctors said the cyst has grown too large and is in a very compromising position.
“It is causing a lot of pressure on Keanu’s brain, causing him to suffer pain and seizures. It also makes him incapable of closing his eyes when he falls asleep.
“They said they cannot do the operation because there is a 90% chance that he would not survive the procedure,” Glass said, breaking down again.
He said it was unclear what the little boy’s life expectancy was without the operation.
Keanu and his parents have since returned home, where they can do little but give the boy medication to relieve pain and reduce his risk of seizures.
“We put the remainder of the R20,000 in a bank account and that will only be used for Keanu’s treatment. I also have a collection of vintage vinyls [records] I want to put up for sale, and that money will go straight into that same account.
I can’t accept that he will continue to live in pain for the rest of his life,” the grandfather said.
HeraldLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.