Latest update April 8th, 2025 7:13 AM
17-year-old brain tumour victim needs public assistance
Up to early last year Rayon Fredericks was living the life of a normal 16-year-old, preparing to write the CSEC examinations.
But just as he was winding down his revisions something strange began to happen–he developed problems with his hearing and began experiencing severe headaches.
Rayon Fredericks in a T&T hospital after the surgery to drain the excess fluid from his brain.
As a result he was devastated when he could not write the examination.
But as if that was not enough, Fredericks developed problems with his sight in August last year but it was then that the situation became “clearer.”
Fredericks who hails from the Berbice River community of Hururu was subsequently seen by a doctor at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was diagnosed with a tumour in his brain. This was after several tests and a CT scan.
Overseas treatment was recommended.
His father, Leslie Fredericks, told this newspaper that he managed to raise some funds to take his son to Trinidad for an evaluation of what it would take to remedy his condition.
While at the Community Hospital of Seventh-Day Adventists, they discovered that the tumour had grown to the size of an orange and was bracing the brain heavily, affecting the functions of certain key organs.
The teenager underwent emergency surgery to drain the excess fluid from his brain under renowned Caribbean Brain Specialist Dr Richard Span.
But to reverse the growth of the tumour, Fredericks requires a special surgery, which according to his father would cost a bit over $5M.
Leslie Fredericks said that already the Ministry of Health has promised to assist financially but the family is still desperately in need of further help, especially since the surgery will have to be done out of Guyana.
According to Fredericks, his son was full of potential, educationally, until he developed the present condition.
“Right now, since the fluid was drained from his brain, he could hear a bit more and his eyes could now open,” the concerned father told Kaieteur News.
He advised that persons who wish to assist his son to realise his dreams can contact him on cell phone number 676-5903 or the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs on telephone number 223 7392.
There is also a Republic Bank account #5087721 where persons can make donations of any amount.
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