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| Banker Chioma Nwokolo seeks urgent help to combat deadly ailment |
native of Awka-Etiti in Anambra State, couldn’t have been better. The pretty mother of two had dreams, one of which was to attain the peak of her career as a banker. At 33, and living happily with her husband, Chima, the lady, a former staff of Awka-Etiti Micro Finance Bank, lived and faced life with gusto like every other fulfilled woman.
But her life took a sad, dramatic twist and her joy was shattered late last year when she was diagnosed with chronic renal failure. With her condition worsening daily, she urgently needs the sum of 35, 000 dollars from the general public to finance her trip to India for a kidney transplant. The sad twist that marred her happiness and almost made her an invalid started in February 2011.
Despite having two beautiful children, Chioma still looked forward to being blessed with more. It was with this mindset that she hurriedly went for a pregnancy test when she started experiencing what she suspected to be pregnancy symptoms. When the results came out negative, she became alarmed and alerted her husband, a transporter in Lagos.
“I was having constant headache and was vomiting. I was happy to be pregnant and immediately went for a test to confirm my suspicion,” she said. After a series of tests at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State, Chioma was handed what sounded like a death knell: what she was experiencing were symptoms of chronic renal failure. The prognosis she got later from the hospital changed the course of her life and has sent the entire household down a sorrowful path. The frail looking lady disclosed that her condition allegedly worsened after a consultant at the teaching hospital prescribed a drug for her. This got her admitted in a hospital for over a month.
Her words: “I started having shortage of breath and blood. Everything just changed automatically after I took the drugs.”
It was a weak, fragile-looking Chioma that visited the corporate headquarters of The Sun Publishing Limited, supported by her husband earlier this week. She was in excruciating pains, exhausted and she spoke with so much difficulty. Most of the talking was done by her husband, who disclosed that he has exhausted his savings on his wife’s ailment and had to close his business to basically take care of her.
After settling his wife into a comfortable position on a chair, an obviously distraught Chima, the husband, buried his face in his hands. It was with bloodshot eyes and an unsteady voice that he later answered the questions asked by the reporter. With shaky hands, he rummaged through a polythene bag and produced two pictures of his wife. One showed her lying almost lifeless on a hospital bed and the other, which had little resemblance to the other, showed a beautiful, bespectacled and light complexioned woman. The two pictures were no doubt, world apart. “My sister, this is where life has pushed us to. Look at my wife, a very pretty lady. She has been reduced to almost a child that needs help at all times,” he said.
Chima explained that after he learnt about his wife’s condition, he brought her to Lagos for good medical care. He disclosed that between February 2011 and January 2012, he has spent over a million naira to procure drugs for his wife and for her dialysis sessions. The dialysis, he disclosed, cost N45, 000, per session while the drugs are very expensive. As a result of the financial crisis the family is facing, Chioma now undergoes dialysis treatment once in two weeks instead of thrice a week. The distraught husband lamented that his wife’s family members have abandoned them to their fate, adding that they told him to seek spiritual help for her.
However, their search for healing in spiritual homes and churches has also, not yielded any positive result or given Chioma reprieve from the ailment ravaging her body.
“They said I should be the one to take care of her as her husband. They just abandoned us to go through this alone. She has been through nine dialysis and needs to do more. I have closed down because of this problem. We have been to several churches where miracles are supposedly taking place all the time but the situation has not changed,” he lamented. Despite feeling overwhelmed by the situation, Chima is optimistic that God would intervene in the life of his wife. He’s appealing to well meaning Nigerians to help save her life.
With a sombre look on her face and wincing in pain, Chioma told Daily Sun that her husband has been her only source of strength. She also disclosed that her two children are presently living with her brother in Onitsha, Anambra State. Chioma can be reached through her numbers - 08052269443 and 08095125761. Anyone desirous of contributing towards saving her life can pay into her husband’s account number with UBA - Okwunna. P. Nwokolo - 03700520033638.
Source: Sunnews Friday, January 27, 2012 ( Link http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2012/jan/27/national-27-01-2011-006.html)
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