THE parents of a baby boy born with no eyes have made an emotional plea for help to pay for his medical care.
Seven-month-old Jacob Nowak has anophthalmia, a condition which affects one in 100,000 babies.
His Polish-born father, Mariusz, and mother, Wiola, have already spent their life-savings on a visit last November to a specialist clinic in Rostock, Germany.
The child is due to go back there next Sunday for further treatment.
No money has been made available for treatment by the HSE.
Mariusz explained that his son would need hydrogel implants every six months to expand his eye sockets.
Jacob will also have to be fitted with false eyes and these will have to be replaced every three months in line with normal growth patterns.
"Normally the human eye grows for six years, so the treatment will take at least this amount of time," Mariusz explained.
The construction worker who lives in Millstreet, Co Cork, and who also has a six-year-old daughter, estimates it will cost about €300,000 for all the treatment.
He said it was a shock when his child was born to discover he’d no eyes.
"He smiles a lot and laughs. He’s a perfectly happy baby and has no other problems," Mariusz said.
The couple are also anxious to hear from other parents who may have children with similar conditions.
"We have met one child in Ireland and been in touch with one in England. The Irish child is seven years old and he’s doing very well. He’s very good at school, top of his class," Mariusz said.
He said the English child is a year-old boy who is also doing well. "He’s a very happy baby, just like Jacob," Mariusz said.
Both of those children are also attending the Rostock clinic where new technology is being used to treat their condition.
The support website has been set up by friends of the family who have been living in Millstreet for nearly five years.
The website is: www.babyjacob.ie
Anybody wishing to donate money can do so by sending it to the AIB Bank Account no. 06553035/sort code: 93-61-54
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, March 10, 2010
