Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Dany

Dany is 17 years old. He was one of our sponsored students for three years. Several years ago he had a kidney transplant. His mother gave him her kidney. For a long time he was doing very well. He tried to look after himself as much as he could. His mother worked long hours to be able to afford the medication that he needed. Dany wore a face mask all the time so that he would not get germs.
Dany's father is an alcoholic. He has never been able to support the family. Dany's mother often went without food to make sure that Dany was able to eat and have his medications.

Eventually, she could not afford the medications and she came to Mayan Families for help.
We were able to get funds for the medications for Dany. Dany's living conditions were one of the worst we have ever seen. Thanks to several wonderful people we were able to renovate the house so that the living conditions were acceptable.

Things looked like they were starting to be much better for the family. Then Dany's body started to reject the kidney. The medication didn't help anymore. There was no other choice but to have diaylisis. But Dany had been through this very painful experience before hand.
He knows that there is no chance of another kidney and that his body will have to endure the painful diaylisis and then the inevitable outcome will be that he will die.
We sent Dany to the city for medical attention. He didn't want to go, he said there was no use. He would not have diaylisis. We asked that he go and listen to the specialist. He did and the outcome was that there was nothing that could be done but diaylisis which would extend his life.

Dany decided that he didn't want his last days to be like that. So now he is at home. He is not taking any medication or under any medical care. He is waiting for his life to end. His body is very bloated and he is very yellow. He used to be such a slight boy. He was such a happy boy. He loved going to school.
Now we are just trying to help him be as comfortable as he can. He likes to drink a fresh orange juice every day and we are giving his mother enough money to buy him an orange juice a day.
He also likes to drink gatorade and we have given his mother a supply of food for this week with the things that Dany likes to eat.
I wish there was some hope for Dany. I wish there was a possibility of a kidney for him.
He is only 17yrs old and he has made the decision on how he wants to live what is left of his life.
We can't make the decisions for Dany and his family. We are just supporting them on this journey. Dany's mother is very poor, this is a heartbreaking time for her. We need help to be able to keep Dany as comfortable as possible and to be able to keep him supplied in his orange juice, gatorade and a chicken soup, cereal etc. If you would like to help Dany and his mother , it would be very much appreciated.

2 comments:

  1. Is it possible to find a Christian Pastor to go to him and talk with him as well as lift him in prayer? There's a guy named Pastor Ben somewhere in the area. Sometimes things like that are very special to families.

    I'd be willing to pitch in to bring a pastor to him that can witness to him, and help the mother through this transitional time.

    For us, I know that church families can really help during a time like this.

    Do you know if they already have that type of support?

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  2. I read this story with great sadness.
    I want to comment, however, that only a truly brave soul would make the choice to end his days on earth at home. . .
    After all, Home is Where the Heart Is!
    I will include Danny in my prayers.
    May his soul cross over, when the time comes, with the flight of angel wings!
    Juliana,
    Cape Town,
    South Africa.

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