When he was diagnosed with a hole in the heart in 2005, Aladetohun Abiola, had thought his end had come. The absence of facilities needed to treat him in the country and his subsequent referral to an Indian hospital for operation in the face of excruciating poverty had combined to dim his hope of survival.
For him to undergo the corrective surgery, Abiola was asked to raise N3m. The fatherless lad could not raise the huge fund. His mother, Mrs Aladetohun, a subsistent farmer, could also not help him.
Luck, however, smiled on him when he
came to The PUNCH for help. His story was published in one of the Saturday Punch editions in 2009. Nigerians reacted promptly by donating generously to the save the Aladetohun fund. He went to India and the surgery was successful
Now 23, the young man, is now a 100 level student of Economics Education at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State.
Aladetohun, who was at The PUNCH Place, the corporate headquarters of PUNCH Nigeria Limited on Tuesday on a thank you visit, said he would have died if not for the newspaper’s publication and the overwhelming support of Nigerians and his family who contributed financially towards his treatment in India.
His visit, though came three years after his ordeal, the energetic young man narrated his experience and journey to survival to our correspondent during his visit.
Aladetohun said the journey to raising N3m for the surgery in an Indian hospital was one he would never forget and would forever be grateful to individuals,corporate organisations, faith-based organisations and non- governmental organisations who donated generously towards his treatment.
Aladetohun, a native of Ido Ani, Ondo State, said he had noticed that while he was in his teens that he could not engage in active or strenous physical activities such as sports, a vocation common to his peers.
“I noticed that I could not walk for a long time and after school hours I could also not play football or run short distances even though I wanted to. I would grow weak easily and most nights and I could not sleep on my back because if I did I would not be able to breath,” he said.
The poor mother tried all she could to keep her son alive. But one day the teenager fainted and went into a coma when he followed her mother to the farm in their village. That was when he was 19.
He was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Owo.This was the beginning of medical tourism for him and his family within and outside Nigeria.
When he was not getting better, Aladetohun was transferred to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile,Ife ,Osun State in May 2005.
It was at the OAUTH that he was eventually diagnosed with a hole in his heart and given a year to live if the hole in one of the most vital organs of the body was not closed.
However, the surgery could not be performed in one of the prestigious health institutions in Nigeria as at that time.
“The consultants said they had the skills and expertise to close the hole but they lacked equipment and facilities that would be needed to undertake the operation and advised me to seek help in hospitals outside the country,” he said.
The estimated cost of the surgery in addition to travel expenses for the operation in a hospital in the United States was $18,000 , an amount Aladetohun, who was accompanied to PUNCH by his aunt, Funke, said the family could not afford.
“My mum is a farmer and my dad was late.We had spent so much ,there was no where we could get the N3m that was needed for the operation.
“For the first time since the illness started, I was faced with the reality that I could die young.We lost all hope and decided to check out of the hospital.The only alternative was for us to start seeking for help and begging for alms to raise the money,” he said.
Aladetohun said he had to relocate to Lagos to stay with his uncle, Mr. Wale Ologun and hoped that things would get better.
He said, “A year after I left Ife for Lagos, we were able to raise about N1,000,000 and because my condition was getting worse as I could no longer sleep anymore and the heart was getting weaker, we were told to travel immediately.
“But then I was denied visa at the US embassy. That day, I wept and broke down.It was one of the worst days I can recollect in my life.It was our last hope in the family.I prepared my mind for the worst.”
However, it was not to be the end for Abiola, as his uncle, whom he stayed with in Lagos resolved that rather than wait for him to meet a tragic end, the setback should be seen as a blessing in disguise.
Ologun, who came with Abiola to The Punch Headquarters last week Tuesday, said they sought to raise the remaining N2m through the help of publications in The Punch and one other newspaper.
Through the publications, Nigerians rose in support of the ailing teenager.Family members and an NGO, Edensfield also contributed to ensure that the surgery was done.
“We came to The Punch and the Thisday Newspapers to seek for assistance through publications to reach out to Nigerians and it worked. Within two months that the articles were published ,we were able to raise more than half of the money that was needed. People anonymously paid into his bank accounts.My church members in the Latter Rain Assembly also helped to raise some fund,” Ologun said.
According to him, they later approached a hospital in India which accepted to treat Abiola.
Three years after he was diagnosed with a hole in the heart in 2005, they finally flew him to India in company of Ologun’s wife, Funke, for the surgery at Paras Hospital.
However, all did not go as planned in India, as they had to spend more than what was budgeted for due to some diagnostic and treatment challenges.
He said, “I went through alot of problems in India. The hospital where I was to do the surgery rejected me after examination.They said my condition had degenerated beyond what their expertise could handle.
“My aunt here and my uncle back in Nigeria started searching for hospitals in India that would accept me and we had limited funds left.We had spent so much on tests in the first hospital.I thought that I would die in India.”
Eventually, a renowned cardiologist in India accepted the challenge to treat Aladetohun at the National Heart Institute in India.
Funke, who went with him to India said that the experts at the institute had said he had only 10 per cent chance of surviving the surgery.
“It was just God, because we had almost lost hope.They gave us a 10 per cent chance of surviving.But of all the three of us that were operated for similar ailment that day, I was the first person to walk the next day, ” Aladetohun said.
Though the surgery was successful, his medical bills had accumulated and there was no money to offset it. However, while they were ruminating on how they would raise the fund to avoid embarrassment in India, an organisation, Reality Vacation Innovation Limited, Victoria Island, made a payment into the recuperating man’s account in Nigeria. With this, the bill was cleared and Aladetohun was discharged to continue his life as a hale and hearty individual.
Three years after the surgery, Abiola has not only overcome his health challenges, he has returned to school.
He thanked Nigerians and well-meaning organisations that responded to the call to save his life.
“I thank God who made the operation successful. I appreciate and thank those who contributed financially,spiritually and stayed with me all through the period. I thank Aunty Funke,who is not my mother but was by my side in India. I am alive and living well because of the generosity of Nigerians. I’m now an undergraduate. Some are more privileged than others. If God has given you the power to help please do not hesistate to help others. Our contributions could help keep a vision in a person’s life,” he said.
However, Abiola, said ,ever since he got back from India, he had been seeking for channels to call on government to stop paying lip service to the health of its citizens and upgrade its hospitals.
According to him,many Nigerians who travelled with him for medical treatment did not come back alive because they did not survive their operations .
He said, “I saw many Nigerians dying in India at the hospital because they came for treatment too late.I don’t want to offend government but the amount they would use to establish a good hospital here is small compared to what we spend on treatment abroad. In India, treatment is free for anybody under 18.They are more populated than us, why can’t we do it?
“What if I did not get the Indian visa? I would have died. Government, individuals and organisations should collaborate in providing hospitals that are good.We should save Nigerians from dying in foreign hospitals by providing facilities.”
-Punch
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