Deshon Gibson, the 14-year-old boy with the rare condition Desmoid Fibromatosis, has had his left arm amputated.
His mother Sharon Gibson said doctors took Deshon to surgery the day after he arrived at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami last month.
“Deshon had the surgery and they had to amputate the hand and had to remove the tumour from four of his ribs, a tumour from his chest area and some of the tumour in his neck and he also had to get plastic surgery to reconstruct his left side,” she explained.
She said he went to surgery again on December 22.
“He came out of surgery very well and is in recovery right now. The doctors said he’s a very strong person because an hour after surgery, when they brought him to the recovery area, he was alert, talking on the phone and watching television.”
Deshon left Barbados on December 19 with Gibson and his father Desmond Mullins, a month after this newspaper highlighted his condition, which he had been grappling with for six years and which had resulted in a large tumour growing on his arm.
He has been unable to attend The Ellerslie School, where he is a student, for the past three years.
While happy that Deshon finally got the surgery, his mother said he still had a long way to go as she appealed to Barbadians to continue to support his fund because “in six to nine weeks he has to get radiation therapy and that’s an additional cost”.
She said his medication and chemotherapy drug all had to be changed.
“We still need funds to help with all these changes and I want to thank all the people in Barbados and abroad who contributed to Deshon’s journey in every which way for their kindness, generosity and also their prayers.
“We, the parents and family of Deshon Gibson, thank them so much but please, keep on giving to Deshon’s journey because his journey has just begun,” she pleaded.
Individuals interested in donating can do so at the Deshon Gibson Fund, Republic Bank, Broad Street, account number 023038591001. (MB)
