North-East Council Area of Delta State. Since his graduation from Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku in Business Administration, he has not known peace as a result of the debilitating illness that has held him down since 2013.
Ordinarily one would have expected the youth after his graduation from the polytechnic to have high hopes about life, but this has not been the case, as the young Ikewe has been battling with chronic kidney failures which has become a life threatening problem for the past two years.
Filled with tears, the young Ikewe who could barely speak due to his weakness only managed to mumble some words of appeal to the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the state Governor-elect, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, corporate organizations and well meaning individuals within and outside the state to come to his aid and assist his family financially so that he could be flown to India for the needed surgery that will see him come back to life again.
The youth also appealed to members of the public not to let him die, but should come to his aid, saying he still has much he could contribute to the good of society. His cousin and current benefactor, Rev. Father Emmanuel Nwankwor, of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Umunede, Delta State, who spoke with sobriety to our reporter over the illness, said they have spent well over two million naira in trying to find a solution to the kidney problem, all to no avail.
“The whole problem started as a fever. We had to take him to Ogwashi-Uku General Hospital where the doctors diagnosed kidney failures. According to them, “the two kidneys have failed. That was the beginning of our ordeal. From there, we were referred to Oghara Specialist Hospital in Ehiope West Council Area. At Oghara, several tests were conducted, at the end, it was still the same kidney failures they diagnosed.
“To carry out the tests that were done, we spent over two million naira; it rose to that amount because we had to go to South Africa to do a compatibility test of the donor. Actually, what is required is not transplanting the two kidneys, but at least one of them. And this they would have done at the Oghara Specialist Hospital.
“Our problem was, however, compounded by the strike embarked upon then by the medical doctors, plus the outbreak of the Ebola virus and the threat of Boko Haram which hindered the surgery experts from the United States of America who normally come to carry out the operations. The doctors at Oghara, said they do not know when the experts will visit the hospital again, but they are ready to give us the necessary documents and letter that will enhance our movement whenever we are ready to take Emma to India where we have made contacts with the hospital that will carry out the surgery”, he said.
According to Rev. Father Nwankwor, the family has been spending between N60, 000 and N100, 000 every week for the young Ikewe’s dialysis: “Some weeks if we have to do blood transfusion which we sometimes do, the bills shoot up to N100, 000, but if no transfusion is to be carried out, we spend about N60, 000 weekly”.
Emmauel Ikewe’s biological father, Patrick, died some few years ago alongside his daughter, Mary, in an inferno that engulfed the house they were living somewhere at Ogbe-Ofu quarters in Ogwashi-Uku; while the mother of the young Emmanuel, Patricia, who is a seamstress by trade, has been crippled financially due to the illness of her only surviving son. Earlier before now, Emma had already lost two of his brothers through various illnesses, but never knew he too would be struck by another life threatening disease. The Clergyman while lamenting the suffering the young promising Emmanuel Ikewe has been undergoing, disclosed that the weekly dialysis they have been undergoing is more of short term solution, adding that travelling to India for the kidney transplant is the major and long lasting solution to the problem.
“But our problem now is raising the (N6m) six million naira that is needed to travel to India and carry out the surgery. We have spent all we have and do not know what to do next other than to appeal to the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the Governor-elect, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, corporate organizations and well meaning individuals to come to the aid of the young Emmanuel Ikewe by assisting us with funds to fly him overseas for the surgery”, he said.
“The six million naira will not have been needed if the transplant of the kidney were to be carried out here in Oghara, as Delta State government normally pays part of the bill. But as things stand now, the solution is to fly Ikewe overseas if we must save him”, revealed Rev. Father Nwankwor.
For assistance from members of the public, Rev. Father Emmanuel Nwankwor said the money can be paid into the following account: Emmanuel M.O Nwankwor – Zenith Bank – Account No: 2003485758 or call this number: 08032415753
Written By Amos Igbebe, Asaba