Heart surgery patient needs funds
More and more Belizean children are benefiting these days from medical attention abroad thanks to the doctors at the Karl Heusner Memorial and their links with doctors and hospitals in the U.S. This month a preschooler will be making the trip to the Mayo Clinic, but his school is asking for your help to make the journey a little easier.
Three year old Shaquille Usher looks like any normal preschooler so it is hard to believe that this energetic bundle may not live to see his teenage years. Shaquille, who attends Sunshine Preschool, was born with a congenital heart defect.
Meloney Hyde, Mother
“When I would tell people he has a heart problem, they would say … Shaquille, no man! He is always jumping about. Yes, he has a heart problem.”
The condition has forced Meloney Hyde to restrict her son’s movements, keeping him inside when he’d rather be out playing with his friends.
Meloney Hyde
“I try not to beat him because you know kids will be kids. I try not to beat him because anything could happen. And if anybody would play rough, I tell them just be careful how you are playing with him because I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him because he is my only child. I really don’t want anything to happen to him.”
However the time has come for little Shaquille to get the medical help he so desperately needs. His mother says there are days when he just does not have the strength to do the things he enjoys the most.
Meloney Hyde
“He is tired, blows short and does not really want to play. He does not want to play, just tired and blows short.”
On April fifteenth, Hyde received the good news that help is on the way. Thanks to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors in Rochester, Minnesota, her son will get the operation he needs in the United States. His medical and surgical expenses will be covered by the Mayo Clinic and a sponsor in the United States will cover the lodging and travel expenses. Shaquille’s preschool is trying to assist the family with their incidentals during the two-month stay in Minnesota.
Rose Edwards, Principal, Sunshine Preschool
“We think he really needs some assistance because Shaquille’s mother at this time is not able to afford this kind of expense. We will be having a dinner and we are also collecting money from the parents. And we are asking other parents and the public to help.”
The turkey dinner will be held on June eleventh and tickets are on sale for only five dollars at Sunshine Preschool on Regent Street.
Shaquille Usher is scheduled to leave Belize on June sixteenth.
In related news, Sandra Moguel and Dr. Victor Rosado of K.H.M.H. would like the parents of the following children to contact them as soon as possible: Barron Young, Collet Wright and Jawmaine Elijio.
