Mother seeks help for epileptic sons
ALEXANDRA - A single mother is seeking help for her 15 and 25 year old epileptic sons who have violent conduct, mood swings and uncontrollable tantrums.
A single mother is seeking help for her 15- and 25-year-old epileptic sons who have mood swings with violent conduct and uncontrollable tantrums.
Boikhutso Benjamin (53) of 17th Avenue, Alexandra, is worried that their rage, which sometimes erupts when unprovoked, may lead to them either killing someone or them being killed.
At their births, Benjamin expected a happy family but, instead, received sons she worries will not be able to become independent men who can care for themselves. It was only recently that she was informed that the ailment was inherited from the mother’s side, with other clan members having been treated with traditional methods when still very young. She tried the same but said it may have been too late to help her sons.
They have been reliant on hospital medication which only provides temporary relief. Benjamin said the challenge was worsened by her separation from their different fathers who provide no help or guidance. This she claimed had led the older son to drugs and a homeless lifestyle. “While he comes home sometimes, I worry that he may not take the medication as required, lose it, or let it expire, leaving him in danger of unpredictable seizures with no one to care for him,” she said.
She said her younger son experienced severe seizures which cause him to fall and hit the ground with his head. “This has contributed to some form of mental disorder which makes him incapable of caring for himself. He is uncontrollable when experiencing seizures, scratches himself incessantly, and bleeds from the nose almost every morning.
“Getting him to bath and be ready for school daily is a major challenge which strains me emotionally and physically.”
His condition means that she can only seek flexible jobs, which are hard to find, to ensure she is available whenever help is needed for him. Her meagre income, together with his disability grant, all go towards transport to a special school, which has waived his R12 000 fees only for this year. At the school, he is said to be uncontrollable and threatens others, including school staff.
Their one-room shelter is shared with six extended family members. This is against a paediatrician’s recommendation that they live in a spacious and well-ventilated place suitable for epilepsy sufferers. She said years of applications for such a place had failed with the housing department as well as the local councillors who manage the development of thousands of houses, including some meant for disabled people.
“I am only hoping for help from the greater society,” she pleaded.
