At16 years old, Rondel Housen loves sports, particularly football. However, having been diagnosed with a heart condition from he was two years old, followed by a leg ailment years later, the teen is left to watch from the sidelines.

He often feels “left out” and wants nothing more than to get over the two illnesses which have been making his life miserable.

Last week his school had sports day, but Housen did not attend. He could not bear the thought of being unable to participate.

“I want to run too,” the shy but jovial Housen said.

Housen has been diagnosed with a congenital heart disease and acute osteomyelistis or an infection of the bone.

Sandra Howell said that her son is saddened that he has not been able to have a normal childhood, saying that the situation often leads him to anger.

Now, the mother is desperately seeking help for her son to continue receiving treatment and prepare for upcoming surgery. Howell said that her son is in constant pain and is often out of school because of this, forcing her to appeal for assistance for her son to get the required treatment.

Howell, who now lives with her family in Lime Bottom, just outside of Ocho Rios, explained that her son was diagnosed with ventriculo septical deficit at two years old.

“He had a fever in the night and I took him to the clinic and the doctors do a test and say he has a hole in the heart,” Howell recalled the day she found out her son was ill.

Later he was diagnosed with infective endocarditis.

“They were trying to get it to close on its own but it’s not closing,” she said, revealing that the aim was to get the hole to close on its own. However, that has failed and Housen requires surgery to correct it. To make matters even more complicated, the leg infection is not getting better.

Housen was diagnosed with acute osteomyelistis or an infection of the bone and deficit aseptic arthritis of the right knee. She said that the condition with his leg will first have to be corrected in order for him to have heart surgery.

“In 2007, he had a swollen leg and I took him to the St Ann’s Bay Hospital. They told me it was infection in it,” Howell said.

Housen’s leg was operated on in December 2007. By January 2008, he was running after a kite when his leg broke.

Tests revealed that the broken bone was caused by an infection. Since then he has been battling the condition which has caused his leg to become flat.

“I keep taking him to the orthopedic people and they say the infection not leaving,” the distressed mother said as she counted all the possible routes that she has taken in order to relieve her son of his pain and misery.

Medical attention has also been sought for him overseas, but the money is not there to pay for surgeries, she said.

“Sometimes when he is feeling the pain, he has to stop from school. It rough as a single parent,” she stated.

The added challenge of sending two other boys to school and looking after the sick one’s medical expenses, is also proving burdensome. She also has to stay at home whenever the lad is sick.

Housen, although distressed by his medical condition, and though often in pain, usually wears a smile. He is hoping for the best.

“I want to become a chef or a welder, but more likely a chef,” he stated.

Those who wish to assist the teen may do so by making a donation to Scotiabank, Spanish Town, account number 838 289.