From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Six years ago when Mr. and Mrs. Mohammed Sadiq, gave birth to their son, Isah, little did they know that he would soon be afflicted by a debilitating disease.
But few months after Isah’s birth, a strange illness, later discovered to be cancer of the eye, struck the boy. Since then, both parents have been seeking a solution for their boy. Unfortunately, they haven’t found any.
When the reporter spoke with Isah’s mother, Habiba, his father, Mohammed was away in Lagos, trying to get financial support from well meaning Nigerians.
The parents are appealing to the Kaduna State Government and public-spirited Nigerians for financial aid to save the life of their child who needs N10 million for surgery in India.
Speaking to Daily Sun at the family’s Kaga Close residence, near Kabala West Abattoir, Kaduna South Local Government Area, the mother of the child, Habiba recalled: “When he was six months old, we discovered a kind of boil near his eye and the eye started turning red, and we took him to hospital for treatment.” She added that they spent four years going to hospital for treatment after which the hospital referred them to Ilorin Teaching Hospital, where the left eye was operated on and removed.
She further explained: “It was when the eye was removed that we discovered that the boil continued to grow, and we still continued going to the hospital for treatment.
“The doctors told us that we had to pay money on monthly basis before they removed artificial eyes for another eye surgery, which would last for the period of six months. We don’t have that kind of money. The total amount for the surgery in India is N10 million.”
She said they were also referred to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, where they were told that the cost of the surgery was at the hospital was also N10 million.
“Since we don’t have such amount, we resorted to local medication for the treatment. It was during this period that one Hassan Alhasan, who is a resident in our community, linked us up with an organization based in Rivers State, Cedio Rural Outreach Ministry, on the condition that we follow him to Rivers. And we obliged.
“We went to Rivers and after they examined our child, they said they had never come across this type of chronic cancer. They gave us a letter of assistance addressed to Kaduna State governor for his intervention. We have submitted a letter to the governor’s office; though we don’t know if the governor has received the letter. We are passionately appealing to the governor to please, intervene and save the life of our child.”
She said Isah, a nursery three pupil, has stopped going to school for over one year now since the cancer became worse. “He hardly sleeps at night. We always embark on prayers till dawn,” she lamented.
“We are poor parents. We live in a rented house. My husband is an electrician by profession. We are appealing to the Kaduna State Government to intervene by helping to save our child’s life. We don’t have the N10 million needed for his treatment.”
A medical report noted that “the right part of the child’s face had started peeling and resulted in an uncontrollable growth with lobulated tissues. It is cancerous with utmost discomfort and is a threat to his life.”
The mother of the cancer patient may be reached on 08036360127