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Help needed for sick toddler
30 August 2007 By Clifford Mogotsi SHE is a cute and bubbly 23 months old, but little Thandile Madikane from Kagiso is fighting for her life. Thandile has biliary atresia, a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver - and the toddler needs a liver transplant. Biliary atresia is a congenital absence or closure of the ducts that drain bile from the liver; illness begins soon after birth. Mother Felicity Madikane only discovered the nature of her child's illness when she was six months old. She is a contract worker at Krugersdorp's emergency services unit, and says a liver transplant will cost about half-a-million rand. And now she has an appointment at the Red Cross Children's Hospital in Cape Town for a medical assessment, but needs to raise the funds for the trip. This prompted the mother and daughter to visit Executive Mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane to ask for help. Seerane offered the pair tickets to and from Cape Town. "We are happy to come on board and we are praying for you and the baby," he said. He was initially approached by Sipho Ngwetsheni, the director of the Centre for Youth Development in Kagiso. "[Ngwetsheni] has done a good job; this is what the government should be about - being caring and responsive," Seerane said. Speaking about her initial concerns about her daughter, Madikane said she took Thandile to Leratong Hospital when her eyes turned yellowish and her urine became yellow and thick. "My baby was admitted for seven days and doctors ran tests but couldn't find anything … I was referred to Coronation Hospital, which referred me to Johannesburg Hospital. My baby underwent an operation, and it was discovered that Thandile suffers from biliary atresia." According to transplant co-ordinator Kim Crymble from the University of the Witwatersrand's Donald Gordon Medical Centre, babies are born with the disease. "Children with this problem are born with it and no-one can pick up the problem when the baby is still in the mother's womb. "Bile is trapped inside the liver and rapidly causes damage and scarring to the liver cells. Further scarring of the liver tissue may result in cirrhosis," Crymble said, adding that a transplant and medication could cost over R300 000. After having a transplant, Thandile would have to take chronic medication for life to prevent her body from rejecting the new organ, Crymble added. Mogale City's spokesperson, Bongani Gaeje, said the Municipality would help to open a trust account for funds for Thandile's transplant. "The municipality will assist in opening the Thandile Trust Account to enable the family to pay for the liver transplant operation." To help, contact social crime prevention officer Hope Majadibodu on 083 898 4348 or Felicity Madikane on 072 484 4196.
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Executive Mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane, hands over flight tickets to Thandile's mother, Felicity Madikane, with Sipho Ngwetsheni looking on
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