Felistus Nthuli, 27 from Kaiti in Makueni county is the mother to a girl named Ashliz Nthuli.
The little girl suffers from hearing and speech loss. However her condition wasn't diagnosed until she turned two years as she was living with her grandmother Elizabeth Nthuli.
“I believe Ashliz was born normal like any other child but when she reached 2-years she couldn’t pick up on speech and I decided to take her to school hoping she will be able to interact with other kids and learn to speak but it turned otherwise and she couldn’t say either a word or hear any," Nthuli narrated.
After visiting Kijabe mission hospital severally the family was referred to seek for an attention of an audiologist who explained that she needed a cochlear implant for the child to develop vital language skills.
“Doctors at Kijabe found that she couldn’t speak and they referred us to audiologists at hearing implants ltd and after a series of appointments, tests by October last year she was diagnosed with profound sensorineural hearing loss which has to cost Sh 2.75M to have it corrected," said Nthuli.
The tests at Nairobi Auditory centre showed non-reproduceable waveforms at 95 dBnHl in the right ear and at 90 dBnHl in the left ear.
However High resolution axil CT scans at Vital Ray medical imaging centre showed that the child’s internal auditory meati are symmetrical, cochlear and vestibular ducts are normal, intact ossicular chains, and that the tympanic and mastoid segments of the facial nerves are normal bilaterally meaning that her severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss could be corrected before she turns 5 years.
Dr. Mujahid Din, a Nairobi based ear, nose and throat surgeon notes cochlear implantation will be the only option to remedy the problem and her mother trusts she will be able to thrive better both academically and socially.
“The girl is very bright and if the surgery will be done she will be able to pronounce words clearly, enable her locate the origin of sound when the teacher is in class and also be more confident than now in matters social skills and environmental activities as stipulated in the new curriculum," Mutisya explained.
The family is now asking for assistance from well wishers to secure funds to enable Ashlie undergo the cochlear transplant before she reaches five.