From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Mirabel James needs help. The four-year-old girl who has been diagnosed with cancer of the eye since 2021, needs all the help she can get to help her undergo surgery for her to be able to go back to school.
According to the father, Mr James who is currently undergoing his compulsory national youth service in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the condition was first noticed in 2021. He said the family noticed that the whiteness of the eye was shining anytime a torchlight was beamed on the eye. Though she was not exhibiting any pain, as the days went by, the growth in the eye became more visible.
“The condition was first noticed around May 2021, and after that we took her to an eye clinic and we were told nothing was wrong with the eye. But around August, the condition got worse and we took her to another eye clinic where we were referred to the Federal Medical Centre. After MRI, we were told it is cancer and the only way is to operate the eye and replace it with an artificial eye,” he said.
Medical documents from Silhouette Diagnostic Consultants dated 10/08/21 signed by Dr Kiridi indicated that Mirabel has Retinoblastoma. According to the report, this condition has made the right globe slightly larger than the left.
In another medical document from the Delta State Teaching Hospital tagged ‘Radiology report’ signed by Dr Ogholoh dated 20th September 2021, it was stated that “Sonogram features are suggestive of right Retinoblastoma. We have taken her to six hospitals including Niger Delta Teaching Hospital and Delta State Teaching hospital. We were referred to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) to carry out the surgery. The cost of the surgery would be like N800, 000. We don’t have such funds now and as it is, her condition is getting worse every day. We have been trying to raise funds. We have spent all we have. We have no more funds to spend in the hospital, otherwise, we would have stayed back in Benin to do the surgery.”
Speaking about his daughter, James disclosed that Mirabel who always came tops in her class has since stopped school because of her condition.
“My daughter is very brilliant, smart, beautiful and lively. So far her condition is affecting her academics such that her performance has dropped. She has stopped schooling now. She is now moody. I am appealing to well-meaning Nigerians to help us to raise the funds to carry out the surgery,”
Saturday Sun investigations revealed that Mirabel complained of pains few days ago and was unable to sleep forcing her parents to take her to UBTH while they are believing God that Nigerians would come to their help and help their daughter.
Her account number at Zenith Bank is 2052614505. The account name is Mirabel Okeoghene James.