Little Abubakr’s journey of resilience after losing his lung

Little Abubakr Cassiem’s remarkable journey has been described as a testament to courage, resilience, and community support. Despite having just one lung, Abubakr, 2, inspires those around him.

His mother Azraah Hendricks said he was in and out of hospital from the age of eight months. That was the start of a long journey for the Grassy Park family in uncovering what was wrong with him.

“I remember it was a change of season when he developed a case of bronchitis and was put on antibiotics.

But just two days later, they were shocked at how his condition had deteriorated. He was weak and I didn’t know what to do anymore. An X-ray revealed that his bronchitis developed into pneumonia,” said Hendricks.

His condition started improving and he was discharged with an inhaler to go home with, and antibiotics to complete.

A month later, he developed a recurring case of bronchitis and was again admitted for two days. At this point, he was clinically fine and his lungs had no problems, according to Hendricks.

However a consistent cough meant more visits to doctors who were unable to make it go away.

“We thought that maybe the cough was just going to linger for a while...And again, clinically he was fine.

‘“Mommy, it’s just a cough, his lungs are fine, breathing patterns are fine, there’s no wheeze, sometimes the throat is just dry, these things happen, don’t worry’. I’ve been hearing these for a while now, and insisted on another X-ray! His lungs were absolutely fine, with no water, no pneumonia. It was cleared up from the previous admission and medication.

The pediatricians were happy,” she said.

It was not until another visit to a family doctor that Hendricks received the correct diagnosis for what was wrong with her son.

“‘I’m so sorry Mommy, but your son has a collapsed lung.’ ...I was like ‘a collapsed lung ?! ...But how? I don’t understand! I’ve been bringing him in, giving the meds, how did it get this bad?’ ...Here we are and this is what has now been caught, so all we could do was handle what we knew, at the time.

It didn’t dawn on me how bad a collapsed lung is. They started to remedy the situation, with antibiotics ...oxygen and pipe feeding, amongst other things.

Abubabkr was struggling to breathe. He was very restless, and wouldn’t fall asleep. He needed high-flow oxygen and was sent to the ICU. His condition was worsening.”

Hendricks recalled a group of specialist taking charge of Abubakr’s case.

“‘Your son is working hard, but we need him to do better.’ It seemed as if the intubation was going to help him breathe so he could also fight the virus.

“An immediate procedure was scheduled and they told us it would take 30 minutes, and we could wait in the waiting room. This turned out to be four hours, as they were struggling with Abubakr.

The first thing I heard was ‘Mommy and Daddy, your baby is very sick and his lungs are not doing well’,” she said.

It turned out that Abubakr had adenovirus ... a common virus found in daycare settings and known for targeting the most vulnerable organs in a child’s body.

“For Abubakr, this meant his lungs, especially because of the existing condition. Abubakr was sedated and received the necessary medical care.

While they were helping him breathe, the virus not only attacked the left lung, but the right one as well. So, over a space of a week, it was a constant battle adjusting the medication to help.”

It was also discovered that Abubakr had carbon dioxide poisoning, his liver was increasing in size and his kidneys were starting to be affected.

“It was a challenging time, as they tried to revive Abubakr who flatlined completely. They struggled for 15 – 20 minutes with him but he came back to us.”

Abubakr is now walking, and starting to talk slowly with his personality starting to show.

“He is feisty and very stubborn! He is a bundle of joy and living proof that Allah answers our prayers. He has grown but unfortunately (there’s) no improvement on the lungs. We try to do as much as possible within our means.

“He needs to take three different medications every day, and over six in a week, (and is) on constant antibiotics. There’s also reflux and he has been under 10kg for more than a year. He’s on a specialised diet and a meal replacement drink but he is not picking up weight.

“We’re still too scared to put him in school. As a family, we need help financially. Our medical aid is on the very basic plan, so we need to cover out-of-pocket. My husband had to close down his driving school business and now he is doing Uber driving – we are trying to make ends meet. We were at a point where we were willing to give up so many things just to improve the situation,” said Hendricks.

Anyone wishing to assist the family can contact Hendricks on 072 058 2339.

• Abubakr’s story was first highlighted by the Skylimit ProjMan PTY (Ltd) Jawwap! newsletter.

Cape Times