Simukai in glasses with his family A Zimbabwean boy has become the first patient in Europe to be fitted with a pacemaker that can dete...
 |
| Simukai in glasses with his family |
A Zimbabwean boy has become the first patient in Europe
to be fitted with a pacemaker that can detect and even stop epileptic seizures.
Simukai Shambira (9), from Surrey, who endured up to 14
seizures daily has seen his seizures reduced to a few per week.
The Daily Mail reports that the SenTiva device is a
game-changer for those who fail to respond to epilepsy drugs.
Simukai was born with a rare brain condition called
Lissencephaly – his brain surface is smooth instead of having folds, triggering
his epileptic fits.
He cannot walk or talk because his condition has affected
his development, and he cannot have surgery due to his abnormal brain
structure. Now his parents, dad Valentine, a planning engineer, and mum
Felistas, Simukai’s carer, hope his life will be transformed.
‘This could be our lifeline,’ says Felistas, 42. ‘Before
he’d get an average of four fits a day, but now he’s only getting them on some
days. If he does have a fit, we can stop them in 60 seconds, whereas before
they’d continue for 15 minutes.’
COMMENTS