Children’s Day was a happy one for two Sattahip kids stricken with hydrocephalus, one of whom not only received toys and cash, but donations of Type “O” blood for a much-needed operation.
About 200 Sattahip-area residents put out their arm at Chonburi Hospital to give blood following a Jan. 11 appeal by the parents of Nathakorn “Nong Game” Sae-Chua. The donations replenished a blood-bank dried up by New Year’s holiday accidents and allowed surgeons to move ahead with plans to drill a hole in the skull of the 16-month-old boy to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid.
Nathakorn “Nong Game” Sae-Chua’s parents say a heartfelt thank you for the recent help they’ve been receiving.
Nathakorn was hospitalized after the intervention of Sattahip District officials who implored hospitals to re-admit the area’s second child suffering from “elephant man” syndrome after they sent the child away because the parents were too poor to pay. Suffering from hydrocephalus since birth, the toddler’s 68 cm. skull had become infected with pressure ulcers, which have now been treated.
While not agreeing to perform the complex surgery that could restore Nathakorn to near-normal health, Chonburi Hospital had agreed to the crude hole-drilling that will drain the CSF externally. A second Sattahip child suffering from hydrocephalus was lucky enough to find a sponsor for the standard surgical procedure, which implants internal cerebral shunts to drain the fluid internally.
The stories of Nathakorn and 31-month old Napakorn Oumprasert, who was sponsored by American doctor Howard Resnick for medical care at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, have captured the imagination of the Eastern Seaboard with many reaching out to the boys for Children’s Day.
Members of the Khet Udomsak governing council – for whom Napakorn’s father works – visited “Nong Kaan” at his parents’ Sukhumvit Soi 12 apartment bearing gifts of toys and cash.
Councilman Nathachai Saengsri presented dolls, gifts and 3,000 baht to Napakorn’s mother Amporn. He said the council lamented that the boy, with a cranial circumference of 92 cm, cannot participate in organized Children’s Day activities and wanted to show the local government cared about his plight.
