‘Please, come to my aid’

For almost a year, Mr. Rafiu Abdulkareem has been battling to live. It all started on March 9, 2015. It started with a cough in the middle of the night at his residence in No. 20 Ogunbowale Street, Ilasamaja, Mushin, Lagos. He was immediately rushed to the General Hospital, Isolo where he was admitted. The […]

For almost a year, Mr. Rafiu Abdulkareem has been battling to live. It all started on March 9, 2015. It started with a cough in the middle of the night at his residence in No. 20 Ogunbowale Street, Ilasamaja, Mushin, Lagos. He was immediately rushed to the General Hospital, Isolo where he was admitted.
The middle-aged man was said to have been administered some drugs with no improvement. According to family sources, it was at the General Hospital, Isolo that he was discovered to be experiencing renal failure. Two weeks after his admission at Isolo, he was transferred to the General Hospital, Gbagada where he has been since April 2015. He has been surviving on dialysis which the family said, has cost it huge sum of money.
 Abdulkareeem’s wife, Sofiat, in an emotion-laden tone, told Eko Trust that the health status of her husband and the huge financial drain have cost the family a lot. In her words, “Since April, 2015, he has been at Gbagada General Hospital where he lives on dialysis which costs us between N80, 000 and N100, 000 per week, up till today.”
She explained further that her husband requires an urgent kidney transplant on the advice of the doctor and the surgery which would be carried out in India, would cost N9 million.
 According  to the medical report on the patient signed by Dr. Ngozi Aikpokpo, a copy of which was sighted by Eko Trust, Abdulkareeem was referred for haemodialysis. The report stated in part, “The cause of the renal failure was stated to be long-standing hypertension. Since then Mr. Abdulkareeem has remained dialysis dependent and that has been a huge financial strain on him and his family. He was admitted in another facility as a result of fluid in his lungs with consequent inability to breath. This is as a result of inadequate dialysis.
 “I (Dr. Aikpokpo) have counseled the patient that a kidney transplant is the best option for him to ensure better quality of life. He however needs to be stabilised before transplantation and this would require funding.”
 Already, the family, according to Mrs. Abdulkareem, had been able to get a donor, “but the challenge remains raising the huge sum of money required for the transplant.”
 According to the medical report, both the donor and the patient (recipient) will be screened to ensure fitness for surgery and compatibility. The cost of the screening is estimated at N600,000, while the transplant would cost N5 million. The patient would also need post-transplant anti-rejection drugs which he would require for life. This is estimated at N1.5 million. It was also highly recommended that he provides funds for a year’s treatment.
 Mrs. Abdulkareem, a mother of four, however appealed to well-meaning Nigerians and philanthropists to come to the aid of her family to raise the sum for her husband’s treatment.
 “Since this problem started, we have spent everything we have; sold the little assets we have. We are now calling on the good Samaritans to assist us to give life back to our breadwinner,” the distraught mother said.
 She implored well meaning Nigerians who wish to send in their contributions towards saving the life of her husband, to contact Eko Trust [email protected] or call 08023039387.