Job Osazuwa
A father of two, Mr. Ibrahim Owolabi Idowu, is down with acute leukaemia, which is threatening his life.
The illness has eaten deep into him and he has become a shadow of himself. And he needs urgent help to bounce back to life.
It was gathered that he has spent over N600, 000 in treating the ailment, which started about six months ago.
Leukaemia is the cancer of the blood cells caused by a rise in the number of white blood cells more than what the body needs. Consequently, they crowd out the red blood cells and platelets that the body needs to be healthy.
Idowu, 32, who hails from Epe Local Government Area of Lagos, is presently receiving treatment at the Haematology Department at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Lagos.
A medical report dated June 14 and signed by a consultant haematologist, Dr. Akinbami A. A., revealed that after various investigations, the patient requires a comprehensive form of management.
“He will benefit from chemotherapy and transplant as part of the management. Bone marrow transplant is not available in Nigeria presently and will require him to travel to India for the procedure,” the report reads.
The patient’s elder brother, Mr. Abdul Ganiy Olalekan Kazeem, told Daily Sun that his family members have been running helter-skelter since the ailment struck his sibling.
He said that 35 million naira was required to carry out chemotherapy and transplant and other travelling expenses. He said the family could not continue to bear the huge financial burden on the temporary treatment to keep him alive.
He said when the sickness started, his brother was busy treating typhoid until it was detected at Ifako-Ijaye General Hospital that he has anaemia. Then he was referred to LASUTH where he was diagnosed as having leukaemia.
For a permanent healing, he stated that Idowu’s doctors have recommended that the patient should be given a transplant in Rajiv Gandhi cancer Institute, India.
“He is in pain as we speak. He always complains of headache. He is short of blood and finds it difficult to sleep. We are pleading with Nigerians, including the government of Lagos State to help save our brother. The hospital has become his second home,” he lamented.
Anyone that might want to render help to the patient may reach him through his mother, Mutilat Idowu on 08021218380, or his brother, Kazeem, on 08061521076.