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Nine-year-old diabetic captures national attention
A grateful Clemehana Moore
It was not easy for Eunice Benjamin to accept the fact that her nine-year-old daughter, Clemehana Moore, was a diabetic and would require a lifetime of treatment to ensure that she lives to become a healthy and productive adult.
It was during the August holidays of 2008, Eunice recalled, that she first observed some drastic changes in her daughter. Clemehana, for example, developed an enormous appetite but for some reason seemed incapable of putting on weight. Even more disturbing was the day that Clemehana requested that her mother prepare a glass of “sugar water” for her.
“She never before asked for sugar water. I couldn’t believe what she was asking me…” Recognising that the request was a genuine one, Eunice said that she hastened to satisfy her daughter’s request.
It was the following day that the suspicions that something was seriously wrong. Clemehana would lose consciousness and topple down the stairway of the family’s Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara home.
She was immediately rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where she was first diagnosed with diabetes. So severe was her condition that she was hospitalised for 22 consecutive days. Her sugar level at the time of hospitalisation was 540, Eunice recounted.
Normal sugar level ranges from 64 milligrams per litre to 104 milligrams per litre.
After being discharged from hospital Clemehana, accompanied by her mother, started attending clinic at the hospital in a bid to ensure that her situation remains stable.
It was through attending clinic that sponsorship became available for Clemehana in the persons of Dr Gumti Krishendat, Head of the Ministry of Health’s Chronic Disease Department who at her own expense facilitated the young patient with strips needful for her daily insulin intake.
Eunice was bestowed with the daily task of administering the insulin but soon Clemehana would learn to take care of this daily routine all by herself. In fact, she has become so skilled in this area that the Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, himself regarded her as an expert patient who has been sharing her knowledge.
According to Eunice, because of diabetes Clemehana has become a very popular student. She is currently attending the St John’s College Secondary School in the city and is so knowledgeable about the disease that she can offer first-hand information.
Being inflicted with the disease has not hindered her from performing with excellence at school.
And it was just recently Clemehana, through the Ministry of Health, was in receipt of added support
Through the Ministry of Health’s programme geared at ensuring that no child dies from diabetes, Clemehana has also secured additional sponsorship from Roriama Airways which will ensure that for the next year she is supplied with strips to enable her daily insulin intake.
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