Yahaya H., 1

Nine-month-old Yahaya Hussaini is the youngest of four children. His father works at ABC in Rigasa and his mother is a petty trader, together earning about 30,000 naira a month. On 5th August 2026, Yahaya suddenly started purging, then stooling blood, and his stomach began to swell. His terrified parents rushed him from hospital to hospital, four in all, before Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital diagnosed intussusception, a dangerous condition where the intestine slides into itself, blocking it and cutting off blood supply. Unable to afford treatment, the family was about to return home with their sick baby when a kind nurse directed them to Helpster.

A 1-year-old child diagnosed with intussusception represents an acute surgical emergency where a segment of the intestine has telescoped into itself, requiring immediate radiological or surgical reduction to prevent irreversible bowel ischemia. If left untreated, intussusception rapidly leads to life-threatening complications including bowel necrosis, intestinal perforation, fecal peritonitis, and profound hypovolemic or septic shock. With emergency care, prognosis is good, however delays risk to bowel perforation, sepsis, dehydration and possible death. Post operative complications may include anastamotic leakage and op site breakdown