Job Osazuwa
Abia State-born Ugochukwu Emeahara is suffering from kidney disease. The ailment, which comes with excruciating pain, has totally plunged him into wretchedness.
The 52-year-old man’s health deteriorates as the clock ticks. And except help quickly comes his way, he is afraid that the worst might happen in no distant time.
The patient, who hails from Umuosu Afugri village, in Umuahia North Local Government Area (LGA) of Abia State, said he could no longer ply his trade as a truck driver. As the breadwinner of a family of six, he lamented that his household was now surviving on the magnanimity of relatives and friends.
His uncle, Mr. Kingsley Ugwubueza, told Daily Sun that his nephew was, in April 2018, wrongly diagnosed with Hepatitis B. He said the family, for many months, was busy wasting thousands of naira treating the wrong disease.
He said: “From that moment, we began to buy different drugs to treat Hepatitis B, unknown to us that we were wasting our time and money. But when we saw that there was no improvement in his condition, and that the sickness got rather worse, we tried another hospital.
“It was when we got to Neo Hospital and Dialysis Centre in Enugu, Enugu State, that he was diagnosed with kidney failure in January this year. Before then, he was already coughing out blood and was almost at the point of death.
“Though he was living in Onitsha, Anambra State, he has been shuttling between Enugu and Abia states in the quest for a medical solution to his ailment. He received good treatment at Neo but we were paying an average of N55,000 every day for all the time he stayed there. So far, he has spent over N1 million for treatment, yet this is just to keep him alive: it is not a cure.
“This is somebody that was very healthy and jumping about a few months ago. He has now virtually turned to a beggar. He is not the lazy type. Even after he was discharged from Neo Hospital, he thought he was strong enough to return to work. He embarked on a journey to Lagos with the truck but he slumped when he got to Lagos.
“He is at the moment going for dialysis at Abia State Diagnosis Centre. Someone has recommended the place to us that the facility and services are okay, and that the medical bills are not too expensive.
“But the major problem now is that Emeahara’s boss, who is the owner of truck he was driving, has said he is tired of spending huge money on dialysis every now and then. In fairness to him, the man has spent a lot on my nephew’s sickness. This is why we are all begging kind-hearted Nigerians to help us at this trying time.”
The patient, who also appealed to Nigerians, including the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, to have mercy on him by contributing to his cause in order to save him from death, said his doctors have advised him to get about N10 million to get the transplant done.
He said he would forever be indebted to whoever would come to his aid and make him bounce back to life again.
The patient can be reached on his mobile line, 09036909086. Financial assistance can also be sent to him through his Fidelity Bank account. The account name is Roy Ugochukwu Emeahara and the number, 6051599989.