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For those of you who don't know me, I'm David, a primary school teacher in London, just having returned from a summer holiday to Brazil. During one of our many visits to the beach in Rio De Janeiro, Rafael, my 6 year old son made friends with a little Brazilian girl called Laura, and since then we've got to know her family. So over the last five or six weeks I've been learning about the sad story of Laura's little brother, Bernardo who is 2. He is currently in hospital as a result of a condition called hydrocephalus. This basically means he has an accumulation of spinal fluid on the brain which is causing a very real threat to his health. Since I met his family, he's been in and out of intensive care and has been in hospital for weeks now. Fortunately his mum was able to just about scrape together enough to pay for an operation a short while ago to remove the build up of fluid. Before that Bernardo was at risk of cardiac arrest. However for now, Bernardo is still stuck in the hospital because he hasn't yet had a more permanent solution: a valve installed to remove the excess spinal fluid on his brain as it continues to build up.
Fortunately, his mum has a basic healthcare insurance plan through her bank. This has basically saved Bernardo's life over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, although the health insurance she has is enough to pay for his stay in the hospital, it does not extend to the surgery that he needs to keep him safe.
For those who haven't been to Brazil, it is very much the haves and the have nots and the have nots don't have even the healthcare they need to, in some cases, survive. They of course have no NHS. Since I've known Bernardo's mum, she has lost her home, evicted because of paying all her money to the hospital for the last operation to keep Bernardo alive. Currently her and little Laura are being housed by a friend, and they can't leave Rio and go back to their family because Bernardo is stuck in the hospital there in Rio.
If Bernardo is able to have the valve operation, he will be healthy enough to be discharged from hospital without fear of going back into intensive care because of another build up of spinal fluid on the brain. As it stands, the hospital are itching to discharge him because of the flimsy health insurance plan that his family hsve, so it's a matter of urgency that he gets this operation quickly to keep him safe.
Below, I've copied and pasted (via Google translate in Portuguese) an appeal from him mum, who has obviously been through a lot in the recent past.
WHAT'S THE PRICE OF A LIFE FOR YOU?
In 2016 Bernardo was born with 38 centimeters and 2.5 kg. Inside my belly Bernardo, was diagnosed with a disease called obstructive hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus is the excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid inside the skull, which leads to cerebral swelling. This type of disease occurs when there is a blockage in the ventricular system of the brain, preventing the cerebrospinal fluid from flowing normally through the brain and spinal cord. And through this Bernardo was born with great cerebral swelling, today he needs to undergo a new surgery for a valve so that the cerebrospinal fluid can travel through the brain normally, so he can survive and try to live a normal life. Today Bernardo does not walk and does not speak, Due to his deficiency. Today Bernardo is hospitalized, needing to undergo a new surgery so he can try to lead a normal life. In addition to this surgery, Bê needs medical follow-ups, remedies and physical therapy treatment. Today I and my family find ourselves very distressed because of poor health, undergoing several changes. And Bernardo trying to survive day after day. Being a fight for me, a single mother of two. But every day I look at that bed fighting to survive and where it renews my strength. My only hope is to see him walk and talk and to that. I'm struggling every day so this can be accomplished. Bê is a child full of will power to live and my biggest desire was to offer a better life for him, but I was surprised by a disease where I fight with him to win.
We would like the help of you all By donating what you can, you can save a life!
OUR BERNARDO DESERVES TO LIVE! HELP HIM TO LIVE! WE CONTINUE WITH HIS HELP.
I don't usually do these types of things, but this story in particular touched me first because of my son making friends with them on the beach and secondly because it made me wonder what I would do if it was my son in that situation and I couldn't manage to get him the health care he needed just to live and be safe. So I really wanted to help and I thought crowdfunding and social media would be the best way. I just really wanted to do SOMETHING. So please, any small donation would help. As you can see, Bernardo's mum says that even post operation he will need to do physical therapy and other things afterwards.
They have tried to do Crowdfunding out there in Brazil, but it hasn't worked so well. The pound goes a lot further out there than the Brazilian Real (R$), so I think that a many small donations from us over here could make a massive difference and take them to the target of the operation. Obviously I'd be very grateful, his family would be much more so and of course I would promise to keep you update on his progress.
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