18-Month-Old Keemar Needs Your Help

A baby boy from Double Head Cabbage Village is fighting a medical battle his parents say Belize cannot diagnose. The 18-month-old has been admitted to hospital four times since November. Doctors have treated him for severe blood and platelet loss, but the cause remains unknown.

His parents, Keemar Ferguson and Deondra Samuels, have now been advised to seek a hematologist in Mexico.

“It started last November. He had a high fever,” Samuels said. After initial treatment for flu, tests revealed his blood level was dangerously low. He was admitted to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for two weeks.

“They told us that Belize cannot diagnose the baby. He needs a special doctor for the blood, which is a hematologist,” Samuels said.

“Every day he is in constant pain,” She added. “Even though he eat, he still lose a lot of weight because of that he have an enlarged spleen, kidney, and liver at the moment. So his stomach is very extended.”

As a father, Ferguson said the change has been heartbreaking: “You’d go from mawning and he’s just active and then you come home, and he just start ah no move.”

The young parents are working towards gathering the funds needed to take little Keemar to Cancun or Merida by the end of the month. Tests alone will cost BZ$12,000, excluding travel and accommodation.

Little Keemar’s grandmother is organising a fundraising drive during the upcoming La Ruta Maya event in Double Head Cabbage Village to help cover the cost of his medical treatment in Mexico.

“I just want to ask of people to please help us,” Samuels said. “It’s very hard to see him like that, especially when he’s crying in pain.”

Anyone wishing to assist can contact Keemar Junior’s mother directly at 625-1356.