Any mommy and daddy look forward to their baby reaching their developmental milestones.
We’ve all seen countless videos of their first roll, first crawl, and first step – little Elijah needs your help to be able to have that same joy and pride that all babies deserve when growing up and taking their first step in the big world.
Elijah has an endless love for coffee and cream doughnuts, and if you really want to see him smile, a big bowl of spaghetti, but the thing you can see that he really wants is to be able to walk as his siblings do, and the frustration and lack of understanding as to why he can’t, is heart-breaking.
Elijah was born with arthrogryposis.
This means a baby is born with joints that do not move and could be stuck in one position.
Due to not being able to move the limbs, muscle development is often poor or non-existent.
Extra tissue also often forms around the joints, making immobility even worse. There is no cure.
The best Elijah’s mom, Michanka van Zyl (34), can hope for is progressive surgery in America.
This could hopefully allow Elijah to take one giant leap for one little guy, but it cannot happen without a small leap from the community.
Michanka has asked everyone she knows for help in getting Elijah to America to receive specialist treatment for his condition but is reeling at some of the responses she has had to endure.
“Some people can be cruel. They ask me for proof that Elijah is disabled and needs the treatment and surgeries,” she said, frustrated and tearful.
Michanka and her husband have been everywhere in South Africa to get help for their little boy, but, unfortunately, with his condition being as rare as it is, the treatment on offer is experimental at best.
The sooner he can get to the USA to start, the better.
The decision to go overseas to seek treatment was not taken lightly.
Elijah is the ‘laatlammetjie’ of his family, and he has four older siblings, the oldest being 16. Elijah and Michanka would travel to America by themselves, leaving daddy to hold down the fort while he gets treatment. It is an incredibly stressful situation to be in for everyone whose heart this little boy has touched.
Another reason for needing the surgery sooner rather than later is the trauma and recovery from it.
These procedures are incredibly painful and take a combination of surgeries to reset bones and casts to literally bend his legs and arms straight with time. The procedures are not pleasant and not comfortable.
Elijah is completely immobilised when placed in casts.
These casts chaff and rub his skin raw, “South Africa just does not have the technology on hand, and this is the most effective way to treat his condition. We would need to be in America for at least six months, just to get to treat his legs,” Michanka told WITBANK NEWS.
Michanka has started a ‘Back-a-Buddy’ for Elijah, in the hopes that they will get the funding needed for their flights and accommodation to the USA.
The surgeries and treatments have already been sponsored.
Surely the community can help with getting this little guy there and be part of his first steps when he takes them one day.
Meet him halfway and support the little guy by clicking on this link: Help Elijah
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