Old Harbour mother bemoans struggles after son suffers sudden kidney failure

The 47-year-old mother of three children has been enduring sleepless nights since November of last year, as she desperately tries to save the life of her ailing son.

On the morning of November 4, 2021 Rachoy Thomas, 21 years old and eldest child of Morgan, woke up in pain. His entire body was swollen from head to toe.

Frightened by what she was seeing of her boy, Morgan took him to the hospital. A battery of tests was conducted to determine the prognosis of the young man, who once earned his daily bread as a construction labourer prior to now.

When the tests results finally came back from the labs, Thomas was diagnosed with renal disease, also known as kidney failure.

The situation has forced the Red Ground resident to shuffle her priorities, which is negatively impacting her ability to take care of her other children – a 16 year-old girl and 14-year-old boy.

Since his diagnosis, the hospital has become Rachoy’s home, as he spends most times indispose. The unstableness of his chronic ailment is extremely taxing on his mother, who must cough up approximately $15,000 for each dialysis treatment required twice weekly. That’s roughly $600,000 in five months already without computing the cost for medication, in addition to making the almost daily transport to the hospital.

Morgan describes her situation as “very hard”. Her current reality is akin to a lone soldier fighting an army of the enemy. It’s a new battle on the frontier for this higgler, who turned to selling fruits in the Old Harbour market after she was unable to continue make bammies because the tools were destroyed.

Rachoy’s biological father died when he was seven years old, she tells Old Harbour News, highlighting her plight. Her current partner, who is the father of the other children, has expended all he can to assist. His finances is literally threadbare and scrapes just enough these days to make sure the children remain in school and have food to eat.

During this interview, Morgan said one the children did not go to school because “mi just no have it fi send him today”.

“Mi can’t manage,” she bemoaned with a desperate plea. “So mi a seek some assistance.”

Aid in whatever way could also see Rachoy spending more time at home, but as things stand remaining in the hospital is his best chance of staying alive.

“So him improve and him come home, him swell up back, because mi just no have di money fi tek care a him like dat,” Morgan said.

According to medical literature, kidney failure occurs when one or both of the kidneys no longer work naturally. Treatment usually includes dialysis or a transplant (replacing the damaged kidney).  While there are no known cures as yet based on science, it is possible for kidney patients to live a long and very active life with treatment. However, life expectancy is reduced significantly to a few years at most if early treatment and a rigid protocol isn’t observed.

Editor’s Note: If you would like to assist the family, contact Gloria Morgan at 876 472 6794.