People living with, and parents having to care for kids with sickle cell disease know that it is a daily struggle.
Viewers will remember our April 2018 feature on 9 year old Orlando Romero from Punta Gorda and 18 year old Jasmine Ramclam" both suffering from sickle cell disease. Everyday continues to be a challenge for both of them. But the aren't the only ones battling this disease. We spoke to a city mother today who has two children with sickle cell disease: her 15 year old daughter Samica and her 1 year 7 month old baby boy Shaquan. This morning she told us of her struggles and why she needs your help and support to keep her kids alive.
Stephanie Garnett - Mother
"Actually I find out Samica one like when she going on 1 nearly 2 but Shaquan he just couple months ago I find out because the test end up going way to Miami and then it come back positive. Actually his blood would just go low and low and I don't know why it is going low because they said he is just anaemic but blood can't just go that low it hast to be something really wrong so when I took him to the hospital when he was 4 months it wasn't that low so it end up just the get little drips and thing, when he 8 months now I watch my baby start to get fever, sick, just want suck the breast, then he just the cry and I want to know what happen to this baby now, next day when I look my baby lip white, his hand is white, his foot is white and that time I said no man."
"When I took him to the hospital the doctor say hmm, they rushed him immediately, they say this baby has to got to PQ so they took him now and they told me sit down and I said doctor sit down? For what? My baby is alright? He said no, and I said well I can't sit down now because I think he is dead so he say no your baby is in here so I say well I can sit down now, so when I sit down the doctor say I don't know if we lose this baby tonight, tomorrow, when, your baby blood is too low, his blood is at 2 point. So I call my mom , I call everybody and my mom said just pray so I had faith and I pray so when I get into the place my baby is moving and standing up and I said this little boy is so strong."
Courtney Weatherburne
"You had to deal with all of this with your daughter because she was diagnosed as a baby too."
Stephanie Garnett
"Well this is the one that hit me now because I could have done it with one because I manage it with her but when I hear him now and the way his one is difficult, worse than my daughter's, she didn't fall off, her spleen did not swell, her blood does not go that low she does go through her crisis but his one really worse."
Courtney Weatherburne
"Is this the first time you are trying to raise funds for your kids?"
Stephanie Garnett
"Yes I say now I really have to do this and do something for my baby because if I don't do this I know I will lose my baby."
Courtney Weatherburne
"Talk to us about the expenses, how expensive it is in terms of medical care for your two children."
Stephanie Garnett
"It is very expensive like for a month I am spending two or 3 hundred dollars because I have to make natural things for them, I have to give them a lot of vegetables, like I try keep it up but like I spend all my money, I end up sell out all my stuff that I have so I say let me start back my small business that I was doing for my baby, I need to get back on my foot and thing."
Garnett will sell food every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in front of the ITVET up until December to raise funds to pay for her children's medical bills. If you would like to assist Garnett you can call her at 606-8595 or pay money into her Holy Redeemer Credit Union account number 000069565.
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