2-year-old toddler Mauled By Dog Undergoes Plastic Surgery

A two-year-old boy, attacked by a dog in Accra, has undergone successful surgery at the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital.

Dr Hope Glover Addy, a Pediatric Surgeon, told the Ghana New Agency (GNA) on Monday that, plastic surgery has successfully been performed at the anus, the affected part, and the stool diverted to the abdomen to allow for smooth passage.

The two-year old boy, was attacked by a mixed shepherd breed dog on Monday night, April 15, and got part of his anus and the flesh around that area, as well as the private part chopped off, leaving the toddler in critical condition.

The mother, Sarah Aboagye, was said to have left him in a baby’s court to use the washroom when the incident suddenly occurred.

Dr Addy, said despite the success of the first surgery, chances of survival of the toddler, would depend on the final surgery, which was yet to be performed.

He said: “The boy is injured, part of the anus and the skin around the place have been chopped off so, we have diverted the stool from the anus to the abdomen.

If the place clears up, we will remove the plastic surgery to see what we can do, whether to patch up the raw area, then after that we can think of subsequent surgeries… bringing another vault back to the anus”.

Adding “If he does not get any overwhelming infection, the place will heal normally…and with the anus, there are some muscles that enable one to control the passage of stools. If we test again and we realize that the muscles are not working very well, it means the child may not be able to control the amount of stool that would come out of the anus, so he will just be walking and the stool will just be coming out, unless we find out other procedures to help him, not to soil himself”.

The pediatric surgeon, said the injuries were severe, requiring intensive treatment, with significant financial burden on the parents.

Mother of the infant, Sarah Aboagye, had earlier in an interview said she left her baby briefly to use the washroom, but moments later heard him cry which forced her to come out only to find that he has been mauled by the dog.

“I stepped into the washroom to relieve myself while my child slept peacefully in the courtyard. Suddenly, I heard his cry, I assumed it was merely because I had briefly left his side. I returned only to find the dog attacking my baby inside the mosquito net where we had been sleeping”, she said.

The dog is said to belong to the baby’s father employer. Father of the baby, Frank Addo, also recounted what happened.

“I didn’t witness my son’s desperate struggle with the dog, until he managed to break free and run to me for comfort. It was then that I noticed something was terribly wrong.

Turning on the light, I saw that the dog had scratched his face and bitten off portions of his buttocks”, he said.

According to him, his family lived in the Eastern Region, but he was advised to relocate them to join him which he obliged. But due to the size of his room, the baby cannot cope with the heat, so they sleep on the compound of the house, where the incident happened.

“My boss brought my wife and child from the Eastern Region to Accra, because he disapproved of me spending too much time away with my family. Where I sleep is a small security room, which gets hot and uncomfortable for the baby. That’s why they sleep outside in the compound of the house. My boss initially expressed interest in finding a place for them, but after we located and informed him about it, he chose to ignore our request”, he said.

Source:Anchorghana.com