When the then 7-year-old son of Recardo Wimbush and Therian Wimbush received treatment for an abdominal skin tumor, it was the "most extensive" case Dr. Louis Rapkin had ever seen.
Rapkin, a pediatric oncologist and associate professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, was one of two doctors who testified Wednesday about two of the Wimbushes’ sons’ health after they were removed from their parents’ home in 2014. Former Georgia Tech football player Recardo Wimbush and wife Therian Wimbush are currently being tried on multiple charges of child abuse and false imprisonment.
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The younger son, now 10 and living with extended family, had a tumor the size of an adult fist, according to one witness. Multiple witnesses testified Tuesday that the child had never seen a doctor until he was removed from his parents' home.
The type of tumor the younger son had, giant-cell fibroblastoma, is typically a slow-growing tumor that would take “years” to grow to the size that the son’s tumor reached, Rapkin testified. While malignant, the tumor had a 5 percent rate of metastasis and a very low fatality rate, the doctor said.
The Wimbushes’ older son, who was kept in a dark basement for 18 months, had a fungal rash, vitamin D deficiency and osteopenia — a bone loss condition typical among elderly white women — when he was examined by Dr. Saima Hussein at age 13. He had pain in his legs and sometimes struggled to walk or climb stairs.
Osteopenia can be caused by limited activity and vitamin D deficiency. The basement room where the older son was kept was described by Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Dan Mayfield as "the size of a twin bed," with the only window painted over and the light bulbs removed. The Wimbushes told Gwinnett County police they kept their son in the basement for "disciplinary reasons" upon their 2014 arrest.
The fungal rash, also uncommon in children, was dry, raised and itchy, Hussein testified. These kinds of rashes are caused by wearing damp or sweaty clothes for a long period of time, or extended exposure to damp, humid environments. In Mayfield’s opening statement, he said the older son’s sheets in the basement had gotten moldy from humidity and were taken away by his parents.
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The boys’ health has improved in the two-and-a-half years since their parents’ arrest. The younger son has had surgery to remove the tumor and is currently undergoing oral chemotherapy. The older son was described by witnesses Monday as happy and active. The boy now plays on his school’s basketball team, they said.
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