Cerebral palsy boy in Dubai needs help for urgent hip surgery

Dubai: Joseph Stephen, 8, can neither talk nor walk normally. Like his brother Ashwin, two years younger, he suffers from cerebral palsy.

To make matters worse, Stephen’s hip is also dislocated. But his parents cannot afford to pay for his treatment.

With two special needs children, Stephen’s mother Jenny said: “We desperately want to get our son operated, but cannot raise the money. My husband is the only earning member in the family and we are already spending a substantial amount of money on sending the boys to a special school.”

She said Stephen, who is wheelchair bound, was born with a dislocated hip, but it was only discovered recently. “He could manage a few steps on his own but now even this limited movement is affected. When we took him to the doctor, we were told he urgently needed surgery to put his hip back in the socket and to straighten the muscles in his leg.”

Jenny said a Dubai-based orthopaedic pediatric surgeon  has recommended that Stephen undergoes surgery to maintain his mobility and avoid further deformities. "But we cannot bear the cost of the surgery and treatment which  will come up to Dh128,000."

She said she cannot work to supplement the family income as she cannot leave her two special needs sons alone. “Please help us give him a better quality of life,” she said.

If you wish to help Stephen write to editor@xpress4me.com or contact his mother Jenny at 050-948 8763.