A five-year-old boy who has spent his entire life in hospital, unable to breath or eat on his own, and in need of surgeries he could not get in Jamaica is on his way back home after life-altering surgeries at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Kenrick Bogle’s fate changed in September and October, when he received a pair of key surgeries, and his father heard his voice for the very first time.
The boy was born with tracheoesophageal fistula, an abnormal connection between the esophagus and the trachea.
That connection caused food and saliva to enter his windpipe and travel down into his lungs, causing chest infections.
Doctors at Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston tried to correct the problem, but the infant also had esophageal atresia, which is a gap between the top of his esophagus and the bottom section connected to the stomach.
There was yet another complication when when Kenrick was two weeks old.
After he stopped breathing, it was discovered that he also had a condition called tracheomalacia, which caused his trachea to collapse.
The surgeries to correct these problems couldn’t be done in Jamaica, so the little boy remained in the intensive care unit for years while doctors looked to international hospitals for help.
Jamaican Health Minister Dr. Chris Tufton, Market Me Consulting and Toronto businessman Wes Hall worked together to bring attention to the boy’s plight.
Hall also happened to be on the the board at SickKids Foundation. And together with the help of the SickKids Foundation tribute, the Jamaican Ministry of Health, donors and a public GoFundMe page, $400,000 U.S. was raised for Kenrick.
The physicians and surgeons also agreed to waive their fees.
In September, Kenrick arrived in Toronto with his father by his side and a team of doctors and nurses waiting for him.
The first major operation took place on September 28, and required approximately ten hours, Dr. Agostino Pierro, the head of the Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, said.
The second major surgery was to widen Kenrick’s trachea or windpipe, so it wouldn’t collapse. That took place October 30th.
With the tube once down his trachea now no longer there, the boy is finally learning how to swallow.
Father and son are returning to Jamaica this week, where Kenrick’s ongoing care will continue at the hospital in Kingston.
