Don’t abandon special needs children – Parents advised

A single father of a child suffering from cerebral palsy (CP), Mr Bright Oduro has advised parents of special needs children against abandoning their wards.

CP is a group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood with signs and symptoms varying among people and over time.

He said in most cases, men abandon their wives and the disabled children due to the pressure that comes with caring for such children.

However, he said there were also several instances where mothers abandoned their children just because they were disabled.

Citing himself as an example, Mr Oduro, who was speaking in an interview with the Ghanaian Times stated that his wife left for her family’s house after he refused to adhere to her advice of getting rid of their daughter, four-year-old Akosua Kyere who was suffering from CP.

He said “my wife suggested we kill our baby and I threatened to report her to the police should anything happen to my child”.

“My reaction angered her and she decided to leave the child with me until I change my mind. About three months after she made those derogatory comments, she lost her life mysteriously.

“I am not happy about my wife’s demise, but my advice to anyone with such a child is that they should nurture and love the child instead of thinking about killing or abandoning him or her,” he stated.

Mr Oduro lamented that for the past seven months, he had been living on the benevolence of people as he was unable to go to work because of Akosua’s condition.

He said he would never describe his child as a burden because he loved her just the way she is and would do anything to ensure Akosua felt comfortable.

Mr Oduro, however, expressed worry about the plight of children with special needs who have lost their parents or persons who cared for them genuinely.

Love, he said, was all children suffering from such conditions needed; adding that it was time the public started putting their legs in the shoes of parents with children who will forever remain dependent on them because of an ailment.

“All I pray for is long life, I do not want to die and leave this innocent child in this world. If even her biological mother could abandon her, how will someone who is not related to her treat her,” he quizzed.

Mr Oduro urged the public to be patient and show compassion with persons with disability and their relatives because it is not easy caring for such people.

He expressed gratitude to people who have been generous to him, adding that Mr Edward Amakwa, Founder of the Givers Never Lack Foundation (GNLF), a non-profit organisation focused on supporting people suffering from CP, has been playing very instrumental roles in his life.

BY RAISSA SAMBOU 

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