FUNDRAISING FOR EPILEPTIC BOY
A local school is holding a fundraising event for aBirminghamboy left paralysed by an epileptic fit.
St Benedict’s Infant School are planning activities on 29th March as part of the school’s annual Community Day, which aims to raise awareness for social issues such as domestic violence and disability.
The staff are hoping to raise £3,000 in order to purchase a walking frame and sensory toys for former pupil Awais, who was left blind and unable to move his body following the near fatal fit.
The four-year-old almost died and had to spend several weeks in intensive care.
Awais’ parents were aware of this illness, which he developed in April last year, and the boy suffered many fits at home.
“When Awais began to suffer from regular fits, we contacted our doctor who carried out an MRI scan and blood test.
Despite the tests claiming that my son was normal, I knew something was wrong.”
The youngster continued to suffer from occasional fits, which got worse when he began nursery at St Benedict’s school last October.
He was at the nursery for a week when he suffered the severe fit on 7th October 2011 at 8:20pm, following days of suffering from a serious fever.
“He had an extremely high temperature for four days. The doctor gave him some Ibuprofen medicine, but it wasn’t bringing his temperature down.”
“Awais was with his sister at home when the fit happened. ‘My daughter left him upstairs to sleep and when she brought him downstairs at 8 o’clock, I noticed from the look on his face that he was going to have another fit’.
‘Twenty minutes later, he asked to have something to drink, but he couldn’t hold the bottle. He was really still and his face was twitching and turning blue.”
The child’s mother took him to Heartlands hospital, where he remained for three to four days for intensive therapy.
“He was OK when we got him to the hospital, but he was shaking and kept holding onto me. He suffered more minor fits during the night and the nurses monitored him throughout.”
Doctors told the mother-of-six that there was ‘0%’ chance that her son would survive and insisted that his breathing machine should be shut down.
“The doctors were telling me that they couldn’t control his epilepsy and they couldn’t sedate him any further.
“They even switched his breathing machine off at one point, but it only made Awais worse, so I told them to put it back on, which they did’.
“He was still fitting, but he also suffered from pneumonia three times during that period.
“We managed to convince the doctors that he could pull through and we prayed that he would survive. You can’t see your own child die and now his survival has proved the doctors wrong.”
Awais, who also suffered memory loss during the ordeal, needs to be fed through a tube and lives of a liquid diet of yoghurt, mashed potato and beans.
“He’s like a newborn baby. His memory has been wiped out, so it is like started from scratch when it comes to teaching him how to eat and potty train. He doesn’t recognise us.” he boy’s mother added.
“Because of his condition, he can’t feed himself, so he needs to be fed from a tube.
“He is always trying to pull the tape that attaches the tube to his face away, even though I keep putting it back on. He always wants to be able to feed himself.”
This determination has also been taken note of by his teachers at St Benedict’s, who have described Awais as ‘a clever’ boy.
Assistant Head Amanda Rattigan said “Whenever I’m helping him to walk, he’s always pushing my hand away. It just shows that he wants to be self-sufficient despite his disability. He’s a very clever boy.”
The school hope that the Community event, which will for the first time feature a raffle prize, will raise the £3,000 in order for them to purchase a walking frame and sensory toys for the youngster.
Assistant Head Jan Ludford said, “Our target is to raise £3,000 for this little boy. We’re looking to buy a walking frame and multi-sensory toys because the toys he has now aren’t appropriate for him.”
Speaking about her son’s playing and sleeping habits, his mother added, “He puts a lot of the toys in his mouth and has a habit of biting small parts off. I’m worried that he might swallow these parts.”
“My son also has difficulty sleeping because he now sleeps with his legs folded up and now needs to wear splints in bed.”
The strain of looking after her disabled son has left the asthmatic housewife depressed and suffering from arthritis.
“I have so many things going on at the moment, what with financial problems and family responsibility; I sometimes don’t know what to focus on.
“I also need to carry my son upstairs to his bedroom because he can’t move his legs and as he gets older, he gets bigger and heavier, which makes it more difficult.
“This has given me arthritis on my shoulder and I need regular injections to calm the pain.”
Awais’ family are currently on the waiting list for a house extension on the ground floor of their home, which will be used as a bedroom for the child.
“The doctor has told us that a specially adapted downstairs room for my son is necessary, because he will develop long term damage on his back if he continues to be carried upstairs.
“Once the extension is carried out, we hope that Awais’ life will be much easier than it is now.”
The Community event supporting the child will begin from morning to midday, highlighting other issues such as domestic violence and health and safety in the community.
The event will see a number of stalls selling food, mendhi services, jewellery and a number of other items to attendees, with the proceeds going to Awais’s fund.
Local organisations such as the police, ambulance and the fire service will also be present to give out brochures, as well as to carry out workshops.
Participants taking part in the raffle will be in with a chance of winning free tickets to a mystery event.
Family Learning Leader Syra Butler said, “The tickets could be anything from a cinema tickets to passes to Cadbury World orAltonTowers.”
The day will then move onto the Sponsored Day, which will include a series of activities, including a range of educational games for the pupils.
Ms Rattigan said, “We hope to make the day fun, healthy and educational for the children. They will be taking part in a ‘wake and shake’ game, where they will be springing up and shaking.
Staff will also be making board games with the children, which will help them with their literacy and numeracy skills.
Ms Butler said, “All we want to do is to raise money for Awais and to make parents feel confident about coming to the event to gain access to information and telephone numbers that may help them.”
