Johannesburg - It is a parent’s worst nightmare – when your young child is badly injured or is suffering from a debilitating condition, and you do not know if or to what extent they will recover.
One such child is little Olerato Legong, who at 19 months was involved in a serious car accident. According to Professor Andre Mochan, a neurologist practising at the paediatric unit of Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital in Joburg, the collision left her with several skull fractures and a severe traumatic brain injury, with bruising and bleeding in parts of her brain.
“While surgical intervention at Netcare Garden City Hospital successfully healed Olerato’s skull fractures, the little girl had to spend a month in the hospital’s intensive care unit before being transferred to the hospital for rehabilitation therapy to help address the effects of the brain trauma.
“When she arrived she was conscious and attempting to sit, but her entire left side was very weak and she presented with visual difficulties. At that point she was poorly responsive and unable to interact,” recalled Mochan.
Prior to the accident, Olerato had reached all her developmental milestones and was a happy and active toddler, walking and talking as any healthy child her age would. The sudden impact of the accident on her life was devastating for her family.
“Our lives changed just like that, from one day to the next. It shook my whole world,” said Thabang Legong, Olerato’s mother. Despite the ordeal, Olerato showed enormous resilience. With the support of her mother and the specialised multidisciplinary team in the paediatric unit at the Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital, she made significant progress.
Dr Anri Carstens, a general practitioner with a particular interest in children with special needs, noted that the journey of a child in rehabilitation requires a very specialised approach.
“Many people think of children as being small adults, but they really do need very particular care. So much so that there is a special kind of dedicated paediatric team of clinicians required for a children’s unit in a rehabilitation centre. Their physiology is different to that of adults, they have varying communication capabilities, their nursing requirements are very specific and their family involvement needs to be far greater than in the case of an adult.
“It is also important for children and their families to have assistance with transitioning from rehabilitation back to daily life. For many, this includes finding a suitable outpatient facility for follow-up sessions in their area, possibly special needs schooling and continued care at home. This alone can be an overwhelming experience after an already-difficult time, and we find that families gain great value from having a professional team such as the one at our hospital to help them join the dots and support them through this adjustment process,” she said.
Olerato’s mother was fully involved and dedicated herself to the needs of her child, according to Charne Cox, a physiotherapist on Olerato’s paediatric team.
“Thabang really became part of the team in treating Olerato while she was here with us. Even though she had to travel all the way from Pretoria, the time we were able to spend working so closely together made a huge difference to ensuring continuity of care after Olerato’s discharge,” said Cox.
Olerato was able to benefit from a range of on-site treatments during her time at the paediatric rehabilitation unit, including physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy, incorporating therapy on land as well as hydrotherapy. While she was admitted, she was also assessed by a paediatric optometrist and an audiologist, both of whom are regular referral sources for the unit.
“We are a very close-knit team and communicate about our patients in great detail in our weekly team meetings,” said Anna Potgieter, a speech therapist at the unit.
Olerato was discharged approximately two months after her arrival at the unit, with marked progress, much to the joy of her family. Now, two years later, she is a healthy three-year-old, happily attending crèche, learning new things every day and making friends.
The paediatric unit at Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital is the only licensed paediatric rehab unit with a dedicated paediatric team in the Joburg area. With a total of eight beds, it is small enough to provide highly personalised, one-on-one care.
The Star