At the first encounter
with her, this fair-complexioned lady exhibits no physical disability.
Rather, she presents all the physical features of a young, healthy lady
who possesses all it takes to win a beauty pageant.
But call to her from
behind or while she’s not looking in your direction, beautiful
27-year-old Miss Folashade Oluwaseun Kokumo will not in the least
respond to you. This is not deliberate. She has
hearing impairment which
she has been grappling with since the age of two! She goes about
oblivious of the happenings around her.
Her case is compounded
by the fact that she’s an orphan: she lost both parents as a child. So
severe is her hearing challenge that she finds it very difficult to
compose a complete sentence. Doctors say her ears could not send the
signals required for her to compose speech. Her only option when she
wants to communicate with people is by writing whatever she wants to say
on paper.
In spite of this hearing
challenge, the brilliant young lady has been able to weather the storm
of life, especially in academics. Kokumo, who is an indigene of Abeokuta
North Local Government Area of Ogun State, has been able to complete
her Ordinary National Diploma programme and is currently a Higher
National Diploma 1 student in the Department of Business Administration
at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta. She attained this feat
because of the scholarship offered her by the authorities of the MAPOLY
for two academic sessions.
She said, “My
predicament began at the age of two after an illness. My parents
suddenly realised that I could no longer hear. Later, a speech
impediment was also discovered. My parents made valiant efforts to take
me to various hospitals for treatment and when it was finally
ascertained that the only possible cure for my hearing impairment was
N3.6m cochlear implant that would take place in India, they lost all
hope because they couldn’t afford it.
“Subsequently, I have
struggled from primary school to the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic where I
am currently a Higher National Diploma 1 student of Business
Administration. To say the journey so far has not been easy would be an
understatement. The successful completion of my National Diploma was
solely with the help of a hearing aid I purchased five years ago with
the assistance of well wishers who perceived my doggedness and zeal for
success in life. However, at the twilight of my ND programme, the
hearing aid was damaged and it had an adverse effect on my academic
performance.”
The crux of the matter
now is that she needs about N5.38m to correct this hearing challenge
—N380,000 to purchase a new set of hearing aids and N5m to undergo ear
surgery in an Indian hospital. The hearing aids would give her temporary
relief from the excruciating pain she suffers currently and also assist
her in attending lectures and listening to what the lecturers are
saying to the entire class.
Confirming Kokumo’s
urgent need for hearing aids and surgery in India, the Director of the
Nigerian Army Audiological Centre, Nigerian Army Reference Hospital,
Yaba, Lagos, Dr. Irene Okeke-Igbokwe, in a cover note attached to the
receipt issued the patient in August, said the N380,000 was required for
the purchase of the pairs of the Siemens behind-the-ear hearing aid and
batteries, while a cochlear implant in India would gulp about N5m.
Okeke-Igbokwe’s cover
letter reads in part: “Physical examination revealed a healthy looking
young lady without any physical defects. Otoscopic examination revealed
clear canal and both tympanic membrane intact. Audiological
investigation on Pure Tone Audiometry revealed bilateral severe to
profound sensoneural hearing loss.
“A physician recommended
cochlear implant in India, which is expected to cost N5m and medical
treatment device that replaces the function of the damaged ear. Unlike
hearing aids, it does the work of damaged parts of the inner ear
(cochlear) to send signals to the brain. It also transforms speech and
other sounds into electrical energy that is used to stimulate the
hearing nerve in the inner ear.
“It also has both
internal and external components. She was diagnosed with lack of speech
and language acquisition and inability to hear and no history of
familial hearing loss.
“She will require
binaural post auricular type of cochlear and hearing aids, with ear
mould to enable her to hear better and cope with her education. The cost
of the cochlear implant treatment and moulds is N5m in India.”
Kokumo is therefore
appealing to well-meaning andpublic-spirited Nigerians to come to her
aid to enable her to make use of her ears.
“I hereby call on
well-meaning and kind-hearted Nigerians to come to my aid in raising the
required amount (N5.38m). This would bring sunshine into my life and
also bring to an end untold hardship experienced in coping with my
academic career and in my day-to-day life. I would be forever grateful
for your assistance,” she says.
Donations can be sent to her bank
account number: 0225665107, Kokumo Folashade Oluwaseun, WEMA Bank,
Oke-Ilewo branch, Abeokuta, Ogun State; or Access Bank, Sapon branch,
Abeokuta, account number: 0034194247. You can also contact her on
08180989549 (text messages only).
For more on Miss Folashade Oluwaseun Kokumo click here....Help for Miss Folashade Kokuko
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