Little Sam was close to dying

One of the huge cases in 2019 was when we found Sam. It was our Indian social worker Subhrojit, who found him - and in the following he describes, the journey Sam was on together with Gadens Børn.

“On a usual October afternoon in 2019, the outreach team of Gadens Boern found a little boy at Topsia slum. This was when we had just started working in the community of Topsia, a new area for us to explore in the heart of the city. The boy was born premature and had a lot of complications like left side of the face paralyzed, meningitis, trouble in digestion etc. He was extremely malnourished as he could not sip in milk due to the paralysis. We couldn’t believe it when his mother told us that he was 5 months old, because he was so tiny and weighed only 2.3 kg.

Our team rushed Sam to a private hospital with a department specialized in pediatrics. The little boy was suffering from severe constipation and could not swallow due to the paralysis, so the doctors gave him medicine and a nasal tube with nutrition. Sam was hospitalized for two weeks, but despite the optimized nutrition and diet plan, he did not gain weight as he was supposed to. He went through several diagnostic tests for his inability to gain weight, but all came back negative. They also examined him for tumors and water in his brain, since his head appeared abnormally large. Those tests also came back negative. The doctors started to lose hope, but our head nurse constantly discussed and debated with them in favor of fighting for the little boy’s life.

Our medical team refused to give up on Sam. They found a doctor who is known in Kolkata to be one of the best pediatricians. They went there full of hope that maybe he could help. The doctor read through the medical papers and examined Sam. He said that his prognosis was bad and if he against all odds did survive, he would depend on support for the rest of his life. Support which the government of India is not able to provide. It was clear that the medical sector had given up on him.

The team of Gadens Boern made it part of our routine to visit Sam in the slum every other day. This to keep an eye on his recovery and provide his mother with medicine, vitamins and the best nutrition on the market together with counselling on how to use it. Even though the prognosis was bad, our medical team saw how Sam was getting better day by day. We realized how strong he was and how badly he was fighting for his life. And we were prepared to fight with him for as long as it takes. It was agreed that no matter how much difficulty he will face, Gadens Boern will be there to support him.

Today our little fighter, Sam has recovered a lot. Although it is going slow he has gained weight, which has now reached 3,7 kg. He has started to consume simple food stuffs other than milk, he babbles, smiles and keeps a good eye contact. He has great movement and strength in both arms and legs and nice round cheeks as well as healthy abdominal sounds.

Sam is no less than a miracle! He is a living proof of how far we can come if we keep fighting and believe. Thank you dearly for all the support from Denmark that helped us to help Sam survive his battle”.

– Subrojit Kar, Social Worker