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Girl to lose left arm for injection gone wrong
Bleak future. Roy Nakanda at Mulago hospital yesterday. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- Revelation. The three-year-old was allegedly administered with an injection meant for the bum on her arm, which usually causes gangrene.
KAMPALA.
Born a normal child, Loy Nakanda, aged three, will spend the rest of her life with one arm after an injection gone-bad.
The parents of Nakanda, who is currently admitted to Mulago National Referral Hospital, have for the last two weeks refused to sign the consent forms to have the affected left arm amputated.
Her father, Mr James Mukasa, 38, a resident of Katende Zone, Bugembe Town Council in Jinja District, narrates the events that led to the gangrene in his daughter’s arm as a horror movie.
Gangrene happens when the blood flow to a large area of tissue is cut off, causing the tissue to break down and die.
“It was on April 19, when this child developed a mild fever and cough and we took her to one of the private clinics for further medication where a wrong drug was administered to my child. It was after she failed to respond to the coartem and ampiclox tablets we had earlier purchased from a pharmacy,” Mr Mukasa narrates.
Diagnosis
At Bunawona Clinic in Jinja Town where laboratory tests were first conducted, he says Nakanda was diagnosed with malaria and subsequently, drugs were administered to her through the cannula and the bum.
“The owner of the clinic, who is also a paediatrician, inserted the cannula himself. At some point, however, I realised he was fidgeting when he did not succeed inserting it [the cannula] in the vein the first time, that he had to prick the second time,” says the father of two.
It did not, however, come to Mr Mukasa’s mind that his daughter’s condition would worsen until the following day when he realised that her left hand had turned black and her two fingers numb.
On returning to the hospital, the paediatrician told them the problem could have resulted from a tightened cannula and gave them other drugs. However, the condition worsened and two thirds of the arm were affected.
It was at this moment that his wife, Ms Barabara Birimuye, 35, took Nakanda to Nalufenya Children Hospital in Jinja from where they were referred to Mulago.
Ms Birimuye, a midwife by profession, says the doctors at Mulago told them the case required amputation. She says the doctors said the child could have been administered with an injection meant for the bum on her arm, which usually causes gangrene.
Until today, Nakanda’s parents are yet to come to terms with the fact that their daughter can no longer help herself to do basic things such as cleaning her shoes.
When contacted, Dr Vincent Porter Mujabi, the accused pediatrician and the clinic owner, accepted responsibility, but said he was not sure whether it was the side effect caused by the drug or the over tightened cannula.
Accused speaks out
“We gave that girl an injection of Ceftriaxone, which is an antibiotic, and an antimalarial injection on the bum. I am not sure how the gangrene process started,” Dr Mujabi said.
On how he plans to help the girl to cope with the condition, Dr Mujabi said: “It will depend on the people who will operate on her.”
However, Nakanda’s parents want government or anyone who can, to help them get justice for their daughter and hold the doctor to account. They are also appealing to well-wishers to help their daughter to cope with the condition, including an artificial hand. As Nakanda awaits amputation, her paralysed arm remains raised to avoid worsening the condition so that she is able to get a movable hand in future.
