By Neo Kolane
The family of Maseru Letaoa of Pela-Tšoeu in the Leribe district are desperate. The family man is in urgent need of constant oxygen supply and his condition is deteriorating by the day.
Letaoa is a 40-year old man who is oxygen dependent and cannot buy his own oxygen tank or oxygen concentrator nor can his family help due to financial strains.
Letaoa has two conditions called aortic aneurysm which is a balloon-like bulge in the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and torso.
Aortic aneurysms can dissect or rupture: the force of blood pumping can split the layers of the artery wall, allowing blood to leak in between them.
Another condition is that of Cor pulmonale which is a condition that causes the right side of the heart to fail. Long-term high blood pressure in the arteries of the lung and right ventricle of the heart can lead to cor pulmonale.
Speaking withtheReporter during the week, Maseru’s spouse, ‘Mathabo stated that her husband was not born like that.
He had heart attack and he was admitted twice at Universitas Hospital in Bloemfontein in 2019, September to October and from November to December.
He started using oxygen after he was discharged from Universitas Bloemfontein because he could not breathe properly.
“He was admitted at Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital last year and thereafter we were told that we can get or hire an oxygen tank at Afrox solution,” she said.
She said that they have hired a big tank of oxygen.
‘Mathabo revealed that her spouse was experiencing difficulty when sleeping as he could not breathe properly.
At the moment the family can only afford to pay M2, 250 every month for the hired oxygen tank which he started using since December 2019. But he is forced to sleep at the neighbour’s house due to lack of electricity at his homestead.
Mathabo added that the family looked around for possible funders since 2019 but have yielded no fruitful gain except that the ministry of social development is offering M750 quaterly.
Letaoa is currently being admitted at Butha-Buthe hospital.
In an interview with the publication, one Tšooana Rapotsane Nthakong who works at casualty at the hospital narrated that Letaoa was a patient who had difficulty in breathing.
Nthakong said that when Letaoa got to hospital he was in shortness of breath and coughed blood.
“His condition is above us but we mostly attend situations like difficulty in breathing and coughing,” she observed.
She stated that M48, 000 is needed for the family to own the oxygen concentrator and not depend on paying for it every month.
The patient is pleading for help of an oxygen concentrator he can call his own because his family can hardly afford the money.
Donations may be made by Mpesa to 57480931 Mathabo Letaoa.
