OMPHITLHETSE MOOKI
T HEY have undergone several HIV tests. And, every time, the test results came back negative.
However, their nine-year-old son is on antiretroviral treatment, having tested positive when he was just seven months old.
The Mpumalanga couple believe their son contracted the virus during life-saving abdominal surgery, when their then four-week-old baby received a blood transfusion at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Academic hospital.
Eight years after the discovery of what was causing their son’s ill-health, a multimillion-rand law suit Baby M’s parents lodged five years ago against the Department of Health, Bara and the SA National Blood Service is likely to be heard in court.
The matter is expected to be heard in the Johannesburg High Court next week following a postponement last Tuesday.
“It has been a stressful five years of hospital visits, HIV and DNA tests, depression brought on by the fact that we are struggling to accept what has happened to our son, and the stigma attached to this virus,” said Baby M’s mother yesterday.
Oblivious to the seriousness of the matter that has brought journalists into his parent’s home, Baby M played around the house in his toy car, his small frame belying his age.
At eight years old, it is hard to believe he is three years older than his five-year-old sister.
“People think they are twins,” Baby M’s mother says, with tears welling.
Baby M was diagnosed with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis after his mother realised he vomited whenever she breastfed him.
His paediatrician in Vereeniging had then referred the boy to Soweto’s biggest hospital for the surgery, which was performed on January 27, 2004.
Six months after that surgery, Baby M started getting sick and losing weight so his parents took him to a paediatrician, who told them the boy was showing signs of being HIV-positive.
“He said he wanted to run tests to confirm his suspicion, but I told him there was no way we were positive,” said the boy’s father.
Shocked and puzzled as to how their son could have contracted the virus, the couple got tested for HIV, but the results came back negative.
“I knew then that there was only one way – the surgery. It hit us so hard I ended up having a drinking problem. The hospital could not tell us what happened. They actually said there were no records indicating our son had been treated there,” he said, adding that he has since quit drinking, realising he was just exacerbating the situation.
What followed was a protracted court battle that dragged on as their previous lawyer quit private practice, forcing them to get the services of a new lawyer.
More tests were conducted and even their five-year-old daughter has been tested in a bid to prove to the court that Baby M was the only HIV-infected family member.
“It hurts. People ask why he is eight but looks like his five-year-old sister… You can’t even tell them what’s wrong because of the stigma. Me and my little girl even had to do DNA tests to prove that the boy was my son,” said his mother.
The couple claim they had to remove their son from a nearby primary school due to the stigma attached to the illness.
“It pained me when I received a frantic call from the school last year, only to get there and realise it was just a small cut on his finger. I had driven 73km from my workplace, and even the doctor was surprised to hear they (had) sent him home for just that cut.
“In January this year, he fell sick and could only return to school in March, but when he went back they suggested we take him to a school for children on chronic medication in Witbank, saying they were not trained to handle such children,” said the boy’s father.
He admits the R49 million they are claiming from the government and the SA National Blood Service will not change what happened to their son.
“But it will go a long way in catering for his medical needs,” the man said.
While their son’s status has severely affected their teenage son, who was nine when Baby M was born, the man said they were trying their best to ensure the little ones were not as affected.
“He keeps asking why his sister is not taking the medication, why he is the only one taking medication. His sister is also battling to understand why she doesn’t get medication, so we give her multi-vitamins,” said the man as the girl showed off her Grade R results, which are far better than her older brother’s Grade 1 results.
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