When a powerful earthquake hit Japan on Friday, Mairead Cavanagh got her two young children to safety. But when everyone was running out of their homes, she ran inside.
Cavanagh was looking for a portable suction machine and other supplies that one of her children needs in order to live.
Two-and-a-half-year-old Maleek has a condition called subglottic stenosis and has a tracheostomy. As often as several times an hour he must go through a procedure to ensure that his breathing tube is clear.
Maleek uses a pump at home that runs on AC power but only lasts a couple of hours without being recharged.
Running out of electricity can be a matter of life or death.
"If we can't suction, he can't breathe. It's pretty simple," Cavanagh says. "It's life threatening without power."
But power plants are failing and Japan has instituted a plan for rolling blackouts. Cavanagh says the country is no longer safe for a boy who needs reliable electricity to live.
Maleek is a Canadian citizen, but Cavanagh says she doesn't feel the local embassy understands the urgency their situation.
"We can't even explain just how terrified we are for him," she says.
The family is hoping to get back to Canada. But Cavanagh's Ugandan husband, Abed Lubambula, needs a visa and baby Maleek's sibling Latif needs a passport.
So they came to the Canadian embassy Wednesday in the hopes they would be helped.
"It's his life. It's his life in our hands, basically," Cavanagh says. "I don't think we can even put it into words."
With a report from CTV's Tom Walters in Japan
