If you have a human heart please read...this is a call for help!
SINCE being diagnosed with a hole in the heart before the age of
one, 11-year-old Zainab Akinwande has made the Lagos University
Teaching Hospital (LUTH) a second home, as she continues with the battle
to survive one of the deadliest congenital heart defects.
The ailment is taking its toil on the frail body of the young girl, who has also endured stunted growth, hearing and speech impairment.
A hole in the heart is a problem with the heart’s structure that is present at birth and which changes the normal flow of blood through the heart.
For Zainab, there was
no sign of a developing disease between the time of birth and some days after clocking five months, when, during a routine medical checkup to treat shortage of breath and buildup of fluid in the feet, ankles and legs, it was discovered she was suffering from the heart condition.
According to her mother, Biola Akinwande, who is also her adjunct nurse, “she did not even fall sick until the moment when she started growing pale and we gave her different blood tonic. It was when her situation did not improve that we were advised to seek medical attention at the hospital. That was when our journey to LUTH began,” she said.
Feeble-looking Zainab, who would be 12 years old in November, does not look, talk and act her age, which is a source of concern not only to her parents, but also three other siblings. She is the second child in a family of four. There are occasions, which are countless, when the family ignored pangs of hunger to afford her drugs.
The floodgate of tears was let loose, which drenched her blouse, as Akinwande recounted to The Guardian what she had passed through and how much her life had changed in the last 11 years.
“It is beyond what I can say at a sitting but God knows I have tried my best with the little that I have,” she said. “I have done everything a mother can do for a child. I have prayed, fasted, sold material possessions and gone on hunger strike in the bid to manage the situation.
“I was recently advised by her teachers to take her to a special school, which is very expensive. She is, most times, helpless and always needs attention, sometimes to the detriment of my health. I am always around her and I do a lot for her not to discourage her because it could also affect her medication.”
Family members have been drained physically, emotionally and financially, as they find it extremely difficult to continue with the routine treatment at LUTH. They have again been advised by doctors to seek medical attention, particularly surgery in India – Nigeria’s latest health destination.
The dilemma for the Akinwande family is securing funds for the trip estimated to cost over N4 million for the operation, travel expenses and accommodation for at least two months after the surgery.
Zainab desperately needs kind-hearted Nigerians to assist her raise close to N5 million to survive this ordeal.
Her mother can be contacted on 08028143791. The account number is UBA, Akinwande Zainab 2057506029.
-TheGuardian
Please once again we appeal to well meaningful and Kind-hearted Nigerians to help 11-year-old Zainab Akinwande in any way they can.
 |
| 11yr old Zainab Akinwande |
The ailment is taking its toil on the frail body of the young girl, who has also endured stunted growth, hearing and speech impairment.
A hole in the heart is a problem with the heart’s structure that is present at birth and which changes the normal flow of blood through the heart.
For Zainab, there was
no sign of a developing disease between the time of birth and some days after clocking five months, when, during a routine medical checkup to treat shortage of breath and buildup of fluid in the feet, ankles and legs, it was discovered she was suffering from the heart condition.
According to her mother, Biola Akinwande, who is also her adjunct nurse, “she did not even fall sick until the moment when she started growing pale and we gave her different blood tonic. It was when her situation did not improve that we were advised to seek medical attention at the hospital. That was when our journey to LUTH began,” she said.
Feeble-looking Zainab, who would be 12 years old in November, does not look, talk and act her age, which is a source of concern not only to her parents, but also three other siblings. She is the second child in a family of four. There are occasions, which are countless, when the family ignored pangs of hunger to afford her drugs.
The floodgate of tears was let loose, which drenched her blouse, as Akinwande recounted to The Guardian what she had passed through and how much her life had changed in the last 11 years.
“It is beyond what I can say at a sitting but God knows I have tried my best with the little that I have,” she said. “I have done everything a mother can do for a child. I have prayed, fasted, sold material possessions and gone on hunger strike in the bid to manage the situation.
“I was recently advised by her teachers to take her to a special school, which is very expensive. She is, most times, helpless and always needs attention, sometimes to the detriment of my health. I am always around her and I do a lot for her not to discourage her because it could also affect her medication.”
Family members have been drained physically, emotionally and financially, as they find it extremely difficult to continue with the routine treatment at LUTH. They have again been advised by doctors to seek medical attention, particularly surgery in India – Nigeria’s latest health destination.
The dilemma for the Akinwande family is securing funds for the trip estimated to cost over N4 million for the operation, travel expenses and accommodation for at least two months after the surgery.
Zainab desperately needs kind-hearted Nigerians to assist her raise close to N5 million to survive this ordeal.
Her mother can be contacted on 08028143791. The account number is UBA, Akinwande Zainab 2057506029.
-TheGuardian
Please once again we appeal to well meaningful and Kind-hearted Nigerians to help 11-year-old Zainab Akinwande in any way they can.
No comments:
Post a Comment