A 3-year-old boy is in serious need of getting treatment for a tumour that has swallowed up his entire eye – after his parents tried to cure it with black magic.
Bongre Anton Peter, from Papua New Guinea, showed signs of retinoblastoma in his right eye when he was a year old back in March 2015.He had red swollen eyes but doctors said they were just sore – and prescribed him drops and painkillers for a year.
So when those failed to help, his desperate parents, from the remote Eastern Highlands, turned to black magic to cure it. However, the traditional tribal belief failed and the tumour turned into a tennis-ball size that protrudes some 10cm from his face.
Doctors have warned that it is spreading to his left eye, and they have given him a few weeks to live unless he receives life-saving radiotherapy.
The child is now at the Port Moresby Hospital receiving palliative care while the family try to raise funds for radiation treatment in Australia.
Family friend Michael Williams, who is helping them find treatment for Bongre, said: ‘Bongre is still suffering but he’s not as weak as he has been. He is still active, he can reach out and talk. He’s walking around his father. The actual growth was misdiagnosed at first. Doctors just thought his eyes were sore and dismissed it. The parents switched to black magic because they didn’t think there was any medical cure for the tumour. They held this belief and punished little Bongre for almost one year, treating him with eye drops and pain killers. We’re desperate to raise the funds to get him to Australia and organise the paperwork and visas for the radiation treatment, which is not available in Papua New Guinea.”
The family believe radiotherapy will be able to save Bongre’s life and are currently applying for emergency passports and medical visas.
Cath Porter, a volunteer at the SCF, said they have been working on all avenues to try and get Bongre help.
She says ‘Surgeons have been contacted in Australia and New Zealand. We have also been trying to source funding from various places. We are working as quickly as we possibly can.’