A three-year-old girl in West Pokot County has been admitted to Kapenguria County Referral Hospital with seven sewing needles lodged in her little body.
An X-ray showed that Dorcas Chepchumba from Kangilikwagan village had five needles in her abdomen and two in her back according to County Chief Health Officer, Ibrahim Longolomoi.
“After thorough examinations, doctors at the hospital were shocked to find needles in the body of the baby who was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday,” Longolomoi told the press at the hospital Thursday morning.
The chief health officer added that the patient has been exhibiting symptoms of stomach pains, coughs and high temperatures and medics who recommended further treatment believe the needles were inserted in the child’s body.
“However, the child is fine and stable and she has been referred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret to have the needles removed through surgery,” said the health chief officer.
Longolomoi said the hospital administration has reported the matter to the police and they have launched investigations. “We were baffled and we decided to involve the police to bring the culprits to book,” he said.
The baby has been under the care of grandparents after her mother left partly due to her ill health and to get married. The grandparents said they don’t understand how the needles got in her body.
“I have no idea how the needles got in the body of my grandchild,” her tearful grandmother, Emily Ling’aa said, adding that she was forced to rush the baby to the hospital after she persistently cried complaining of stomach pain.
“Chepchumba was born in hospital and she used to stay with her mother but one day she came and left the child under my care as she had found another man to marry her. After some time the baby started feeling pain and I felt some things in the stomach. I thought it was a normal disease or food problem and we started giving her pain killers,” said Ling’aa.
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She added that on Tuesday, they noticed unusual discomfort with the child forcing them to rush her to Kapenguria hospital. “I was shocked to learn of the needles in her body after the X- ray and wondered how they got inside the child’s body,” said Ling’aa.
The poor family appealed to well wishers to assist them meet baby Chepchumba medical expenses.
