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| Talliah Kachuta’s colostomy has now been closed |
Colleen Chitsa
Three-year-old Talliah Kachuta, who
was born without an anal passage and has been using a hole drilled on the side
of her stomach to pass excrement, has finally undergone a colostomy closure operation;
allowing her to use her anal passage for the first time.
The minor, whose family stays in
Glenview, Harare, where her father is a policeman, first underwent an operation
to open up her anal passage at birth but doctors also performed a colostomy so
that the anal passage could be given time to heal.
A colostomy is a surgical
procedure to bring out one end of the large intestine (colon) through the
stomach so that faeces could be passed through there rather than through the
anal passage.
However, the child continued to
use the stomach hole for longer than was necessary because her parents could
not afford another operation to close the colostomy and re-divert the bottom end
of the colon to the anal passage.
TellZim published the family’s
story on October 23 and a few days later, well-wishers began to contribute money
towards the required surgical procedure which was finally performed by Dr
Chitsaka at Harare Hospital on October 29.
“After the story began
circulating, we received around $5 600 in donations through EcoCash, $5000 from
the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church in Glenview and it was enough for the
surgical operation. When we came back from the hospital, the church again gave
us US$100. Another US$100 was put together through contributions by different police
stations in Harare and we are still receiving donations from other people,”
said the girls’ mother Patricia Timire.
Timire said help from SDA was
facilitated largely by church elder Alois Nyamazana who had been greatly moved
by the family’s plight.
“I thank everybody who made this
happen including TellZim, Elder Nyamazana and his church as well as everybody
who contributed in cash, kind and prayers. Words are not enough to express our
gratitude and relief. Talliah is now using the normal excretion organ and is
now playing with other children without being stigmatized,” said Timire.
To read the first story on the
issue use the below link:
https://tellzim.com/2020/10/child-born-without-anus-pleads-for-us7.html
