Popular Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw, says she regrets taking up a case involving a sex worker, identified as Mary, who allegedly abandoned her child, Michael, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.
Henshaw
on Wednesday said with the experience, she might not render assistance of such
nature in the future.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Henshaw’s attention had been
drawn to the condition of the mother and child through the social media, while
they begged around the Onikan area of Lagos State.
Mary was reported to have had four children from different men.
Michael,
her last child, who she reportedly had for a Malian, was said to have been born
with a cancerous growth in the face.
His
mother was said to have been taking him on begging trips, during which some
residents took their pictures.
Henshaw
said she was tagged on
Twitter sometime in March, 2016, and she took interest in the sick
child.
She
said, “I asked people to find both mother and child and after some efforts,
they were found at Osborne, Ikoyi.
“Later,
someone assisted us in getting a bed space for the sick child at LUTH. Both
mother and child were admitted.”
Henshaw
said she reported the case to Project Alert on Violence Against Women, a
non-government organisation, which involved the Lagos State Government.
Mary
was reported to have initially refused to cooperate with the hospital until she
was threatened with arrest.
Henshaw
said the attitude of Michael’s 30-year-old mother prompted a DNA test, which
confirmed she was the biological mother of the child.
“While
at LUTH, we received reports from other mothers in the ward and some nurses
that she was aggressive. On April 24, she fought a hospital maid and was sent
out of the ward and we had to beg that she should be taken in after she
promised to be of good behaviour.
“We
visited her relatives in Irawo, Ikorodu, where we discovered that she had three
other children for different men. She left them in the care of her aged
mother.”
The
Nollywood actress said on June 9, 2016, Mary walked out of the hospital and
left her baby behind.
Henshaw
said she called the social welfare department and Mary’s family for a meeting
where it was agreed that she should not be allowed to stay with the child
again.
“As
the meeting was going on, Mary appeared. She looked very dirty. The social
welfare workers instructed that she shouldn’t be allowed into the ward,” she
added.
She
explained that after a series of medications, Michael was removed from LUTH due
to a strike action which affected workers at the hospital.
Our
correspondent learnt that the child was taken to Project Alert where her
grandmother started taking care of him.
Henshaw,
however, said she regretted getting involved due to the distrust of Mary’s
family over the care of the child and the management of the fund gathered for
the baby, which she said was not in her care.
She
said, “A little part of me regrets; even though the Bible says we should not be
tired of doing good. The family is giving us problems; but we are committed to
the health and medical care of Baby Michael.
“With
my experience, there is going to be a lethargic, tired attitude of celebrities
when they are called to cases like this in the future. They may donate, but for
someone like me to come out and say before the camera that ‘I, Kate Henshaw…’
It’s not happening again.”
Mary’s
sister, Syndi, however, said although the family appreciated Henshaw’s efforts,
it was not impressed, saying there was no proper communication.
She
explained that Mary ran from LUTH because she was always harassed by the social
workers.
Syndi
said she was ready to take custody of the baby, leaving the NGO and Henshaw to
take care of the medical bills.
She
said, “My family is comfortable and I send N20,000 to my mother every month; we
are not begging. Even the baby, before the encounter, was being treated at a
general hospital.
“I
was surprised when I heard that my sister and the baby were begging on the
street. I was sad.
“When
my sister was at the hospital, she complained that she was always harassed by
the social workers, who sometimes also abused her. She also complained that she
was getting N3,600 every week, which was too small. It was like she was in a
cage.
“She
left on that day because she had not been feeding well. She told me that she
would not go there again because of the harassment. My mother, who took over
from her, was also not well fed.
“I
am capable of taking care of Michael and I will do that. If you are still
interested in taking care of the baby’s medical care, no problem.”
The
Director of Project Alert, Mrs. Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, commended the public
for raising funds for the care of the baby, adding that spending on the child
was well documented.
She
explained that the baby would be released to Syndi, while the organisation
would shoulder the responsibility for the treatment of the baby.
“The
road to full recovery is a long one for Baby Michael. At his last hospital
appointment on Thursday, July 21, the doctor said surgery was not the way out,
but a continued administration of his drugs – Propranol and Nylol gel. We were
told that the benign tumour on his face will gradually compress and shrink, but
it will take a long process. We are committed to his full recovery.
“However,
the social welfare issues surrounding his mother, circumstances of birth,
family and care for him in general are huge,” she said.
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