Akol Agany said his son, Deng was watching a football match when a player hit him in the eye with stick. (Photo/Courtesy).

A woman from Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal is appealing to well-wishers to fund the surgical operation on her 11-year-old son’s left eye afflicted with swelling.

Mel Deng was aged four years when his eye was badly damaged at a football match in 2018.

His mother, Akol Agany said Deng was watching a match when a player hit him in the eye with stick.

After Deng was taken to Wau Civil Hospital for treatment, his affected eye swelled and his condition worsened, prompting his mother to Juba for further medical treatment.

“My son’s eye was damaged while watching a football match in Aweil in 2018. When one of the players hit his eye with a stick and destroyed it, my son fainted,” Ms. Agany narrated in an interview with Eye Radio.

“Last year on 6th June, his eye inflamed due to the rain, So, I decided to come to Juba to present him to the doctors, and they said that his eye must be removed because it is no longer suitable for seeing.”

“He always complains of headache. Some nerves appear in his head, and some secretions are coming from his eye. My son was in his first year in primary school when his eye was damaged in 2018.”

According to a medical report, Deng was diagnosed with Scleritis, a condition causing inflammation of the sclera, which is the white part of your eye.

Scleritis often involves a piercing pain in the eye that gets worse with eye movement and can cause permanent damage and vision loss.

After diagnosis, the doctors advised that the boy’s eye be removed through a medical procedure because it has lost sight.

Ms. Agany, a tea seller, said she is unable to foot the hospital bills of about 350 US dollars to carry out the operation.

Ms. Agany is appealing to well-wishers to intervene in her son’s situation.

“The decision scared me, even though I did not have sufficient financial resources to carry out the removal. They said that the required amount is $350.”

“I cannot help him. I sell tea in the market, and what I earn from selling tea is not enough,” she said.

“He no longer goes to school and complains of difficulty seeing when looking at the blackboard. All I hope for now is for my son to recover. All I ask for is to help my son because he is unable.”