Touched by an angel

Little Ezekiel Ramsay's life has been saved just in the nick of time, thanks to many dedicated readers who acted after his case was first highlighted in the WEEKEND NATION of April 4.

At the time, the eight-year-old Gordon Greenidge Primary School pupil suffered with inflammation around his heart and in one of his lungs. He developed pneumonia frequently, grew tired easily and had to spend weeks away from school but still managed to maintain excellent grades.

Doctors feared he would collapse and die at any moment, but were at a loss as to what was at the root of his condition. That is, until now.

"The [specialist] he has been seeing told me another week without this treatment he is getting now, would've killed him," said Sophia Leacock, Ezekiel's mother.

Thanks to the quick action of one anonymous woman whom Sophia now calls her guardian angel, Ezekiel is now getting the treatment he needs to get back on the road to good health. That road, however, will be a long and rocky one.

Soon after the story appeared, this guardian angel drew Ezekiel's case to Osteopath Laurens Maas-Blaauw of the Maas Clinic, Worthing Main Road, Christ Church.

After examining Ezekiel, Maas-Blaauw discovered he had a rare infection known as mycoplasma - a type of bacteria that can be parasitic, affecting the red blood cells. Very few doctors here can diagnose it, said the specialist.

It can come in a variety of species and Ezekiel has four: Mycoplasma pneumonia which is causing his lung and heart problems, mycoplasma arthritidis which causes arthritis in his joints, mycoplasma fermetans which results in gas and bloating (swollen stomach) and mycoplasma brucella which reinforces a lung infection and is very much like a tuberculosis type of infection.

So far, the specialist has managed to bring Ezekiel's mycoplasma pneumonia under control. This particular species has damaged his liver.

"He was getting a non-specific allergic hepatitis. Hepatitis just means the liver is swollen. The allergic hepatitis caused the pain he was getting across his abdomen. So when he would see doctors presenting symptoms, they diagnosed him with gastro and gave him the routine antibiotics and that, unfortunately, caused the side affect of a yeast infection which feeds mycoplasma even more," said Maas-Blaauw. ....continued