Little Isa’s battle with eye cancer

Isa Mohammed, six, has been battling with eye cancer since the last five years, and it has formed a big tumour which has taken over almost all the right part of his face. The tumour which is very graphic in appearance has been covered in the picture. As a result of the disease, he has […]

Isa Mohammed, six, has been battling with eye cancer since the last five years, and it has formed a big tumour which has taken over almost all the right part of his face. The tumour which is very graphic in appearance has been covered in the picture.
As a result of the disease, he has stopped going to school. He was a nursery two pupil. He is now confined to the room in his father’s rented apartment located at Kaga-Kaga close, Kabala West in Kaduna South Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
He was thereafter diagnosed with retinoblastoma by medical experts at an eye hospital owned by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) known as Cedio Rural Outreach Ministry, Cross River State. 
Retinoblastoma is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye, and it is the most common malignant cancer of the eye in children.
Narrating how Isa’s ordeal began, his father, Mohammed Tanimu, an electrician  said he came home last year from Lagos where he works and noticed that Isa’s right eye was discoloured and bringing out water.
He was treated at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna. He was later referred to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital and his right eye was completely removed via surgery.
“After the operation, I had mixed feelings, even though I was sad that my son’s eye has been removed. I also felt relived thinking our problem has been solved, unknown to me, it was just the beginning. About two months after we came back home to Kaduna, Isa started complaining of pain at the right said of his face. When I examined the place, I saw that a small boil was coming out. Later, the boil started growing bigger, that is when we took him back to the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, and they wrote a letter to the teaching hospital at Ilorin, even though I did not know what they said in the letter,” narrated Tanimu.
Tanimu explained that the boil grew bigger and finally bust after three months which led them to believe it was the end to Isa’s suffering.
However, he started having high fever and low blood count and  the National Eye Centre referred them to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Shika.
On reaching Shika he said the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses there told him something was really wrong and they also blamed them (he and his wife, Habiba for not coming earlier and allowing the problem to escalate.)
He said: “They told us that he had to undergo a surgery which costs N10million. I am only an electrician and cannot raise N10million. We brought Isa back home and waited on Allah. A resident of our community, Hassan Alhassan, linked us to a Cross Rivers State based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) called Cedio Rural Outreach Ministry. We met them in the state, and after examining Isa, they gave us a letter of assistance addressed to the Kaduna State governor for his intervention. We submitted the letter on 6th May, 2016, but up till now, there has been no positive response.”
Isa’s mother, Habiba Idris called on well meaning Nigerians to come to the aide of her son, saying he is in enormous pain. “During the day, he is hale and healthy, but at night, he will sit in a corner, holding his head, and when you ask him what is wrong, he will say ‘mummy, there is no problem, just go and sleep’, but I can see that he is in pain and I cannot do anything to help him,” she lamented.
Hassan Alhassan who linked the couple to Cedio Rural Outreach Ministry said Isa’s pictures were sent to a hospital in India, by the organization, and the hospital said that he needs to undergo a surgery which costs N10million for the surgical procedure alone,  adding that the organization has made several referrals to the hospital, and what is required now is the funds to foot his medical bills.
Our reporter during the visit observed that little Isa moves around with a huge ball like tumour clinging to his face and hoping to receive assistance soon.