Shock gripped residents of Bajjo Cell in Goma Division, Mukono Municipality when a one-year-old boy of a fellow resident swallowed a bean seed that is believed to have led to his death.
Charlie Odongo, a son of Samuel Odongo and Rachael Neluba, is reported to have died at Mulago National Referral Hospital in the Acute Care Unit where he had been admitted after doctors extracted a bean seed from his lungs.
Neluba told Kyaggwe TV that Odongo swallowed a bean seed on Saturday morning at their residence located in Bajjo Estate.
According to the mother, her son started crying while she was in the bathroom, whereupon she rushed to find out the cause.
“I found his mouth full of beans which he had scooped and put in his mouth. Although I removed them, my boy kept on crying and I realized something more serious had happened,” she narrated on Tuesday morning.
Neluba said that she immediately rushed the boy to Kairo Hospital in Kigunga, and the doctor referred her to Mulago Hospital for an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist to handle the case.
She adds that after removing the bean which was extracted from the lungs, they were again sent to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as the baby was breathing with difficulty.
After a short time, the baby was attacked by convulsions whereupon on examination, the doctors told her he had been gripped by cardiac arrest, and passed on shortly after.
Neluba, who sounded firm, told Kyaggwe TV that she was confident despite her son’s death because she said she knew the Lord God was in control and was the one who decided to take away the baby. She said that her son’s death is a challenge to her to continue to walk right with God to be able to earn eternal life.
The family’s neighbour, John Kamunvi said they had been hit by a double tragedy as at the neighbourhood because the day before, another immediate neighbour to Odongo had lost a 6-month old baby who had been hospitalised at Mbarara Hospital.
Kamunvi appealed to parents never to take for granted issues concerning their children because he argued, some are quite unpredictable and unavoidable.
Elaborating, he said the Odongo lost a son after swallowing a bean and yet we cannot ban beans in our homes.
In the circumstances he said, parents simply have to be vigilant and on the lookout all the time, always bearing in mind that anything could happen to their children.
The Cell Defence Secretary, Godfrey Mayombwe challenged parents who prioritize their jobs and render less attention to their children especially those of tender age, and noted that much as we need money in our life, it is not comparable to the life of our children.
Charlie’s burial will take place at Ngora town in Ngora District on Wednesday.
