Buy a cupcake and help raise Aidan

Aidan Hunt is a true expression of the saying ‘dynamite comes in small packages’ as he inspires everyone around him although he has a rare condition called Costello Syndrome.

Costello Syndrome affects many parts of the body and is characterised by delayed development and loose folds of skin noticeable on the hands and feet.

Aidan’s mother Melissa Hunt was hard at work at Ramkiejie Country Estate in Ruimsig selling cakes, cupcakes and their mixtures during Jozi’s Finest Festival to raise funds for Aidan’s wellbeing.

Aidan was born in 2009 and his mother was unaware of his syndrome, as he was only diagnosed in 2011.

“I had an extremely difficult birth with Aidan. He went into distress during labour and he suffered from meconium aspiration (when a newborn inhales or aspirates a mixture of meconium and amniotic fluid in which the baby floats).

His sugar levels were so high that the doctors told me that a normal adult wouldn’t have been able to survive such high levels of sugar.”

This, in turn, caused his pancreas to enlarge three times the size that it normally would have been.

“I got to see him for the first time almost 24 hours after [he was born] and he was very swollen, and he had a nasal tube that helped to feed him.”

According to Hunt, her son was in ICU for almost two weeks and was thereafter transferred to the high care unit for the remainder of his stay.

“He remained in the hospital until he was able to bottle feed. I was so desperate to take my baby home that I spent every minute trying to get liquid into his body via his mouth.”

Aidan was born with clenched fists – symptomatic of Costello Syndrome – and his fingers partially unclenched over the weeks. However, Hunt became extremely worried when one of Aiden’s middle fingers remained folded into his palm two months after his birth. “We were told that his finger could only be fixed after he turned one and we could alternatively try splinting it.”

She decided to take action and made a splint herself, with sticky plaster and a modified plastic formula spoon.

“Amazingly, it did the trick and within a few weeks Aidan’s finger was normal, however his fists never seemed to unclench fully.”

The next chapter in Aidan’s development was feeding him solid food.

Hunt said this was entertaining because she had to think of different ways to make it fun for Aidan as he struggled to swallow.

“This was an ongoing challenge for seven months until my mother came to stay with us and tried to get my child to eat, as she thought it would be easier for her. Soon she realised that it wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be. We had to come up with different ways to make him eat his food, we tried different utensils, tried singing for a reward if he swallowed. We accumulated thousands of different spoons at the end of this challenge.”

After many MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans and several different therapists, they discovered Aidan did in fact have the dreaded Costello Syndrome.

“I didn’t have a clue what the syndrome was and I was afraid to find out what it was and how it would impact the life of my beautiful boy.”

Hunt’s challenge now is taking Aidan for abdominal scans every three months to screen for cancerous tumours and heart scans as Aidan has a thickened left ventricle wall.

“To give Aidan the best chance in life, I am encouraged to do occupational, physio and speech therapy at least once a week to help him develop to his full potential.”

This costs her around R30 000 per month and Aidan’s medical aid doesn’t pay for most of his needs.

“With all of these extra costs in mind we had to come up with a plan to make more money to help us look after Aidan and my mother came up with a microwave cake and cup mix that we started selling to customers at various shows around Gauteng.”

She added that there are currently eight different flavours available and she also makes cakes and cupcakes for events, including weddings and birthdays.

“If people want to order cakes or cupcakes, please feel free to give me a call and help me to raise Aidan.”

Details: Melissa Hunt 083 678 8819.