By Chioma Obinna

David Sopuruchi Chibuzo faces a bleak future. At the age of 17, David is still very much like a baby, unable to perform simple everyday functions. Most of his young life, he has been down with Cerebral Palsy, and is presently in anguish from a fall sustained during one of the numerous seizure attacks that has left him with a dislocated hip and shattered bones.

• David Chibuzo, down with cerebral palsy.

Aside from his inability to help himself with anything, David’s case is worsened by recurring convulsions, a symptom associated with cerebral palsy. the disorder affects muscle tone, movement and motor skills. It is usually caused by brain damage that occurs before or during a child’s birth, or during the first three to five years of life.

Recounting the ordeal, David’s mother, Christy, recalled that he was born hale and hearty on August 7, 1998. At nine months, he had started to hold things to stand and move about the house, but in May 1999, his two elder siblings were admitted at Oredugba Specialist Hospital, Ikate, Surulere, Lagos on diagnosis of cerebral malaria. David who later went down with the same problem, had a more severe case. He was in coma for eight days after which he was resuscitated but at that point things had gone awry; he had lost every single memory and since then, living has been a struggle for him.

His dream of becoming a pastor, is slowly fading, but he refuses to give up the fight, as he is always with a Bible by his side.

When he was just a year old, David was registered at the Children Development Centre, CDC, Surulere, Lagos. There he was taught motor skills and a host of other things but today, he is out of school as a result of dwindling resources of his parents.

David’s father, Chibuzo Onuegbe, a pastor with the Assemblies of God Church took up the story. he regrets being unable to sustain his son’s treatment on his meagre income.

“The journey has not been an easy one but God is gracious. We were told that one week physiotherapy in LUTH will not solve the problem. So we had to engage a physiotherapist thrice a week for seven years. With the help of the massage, David started learning to hold his neck.

“We started to teach him how to sit down by putting him in a carton and guarding it with clothes and pillows; we taught him sounds – how to open his hands. Today, his hands are good but a bit weak. He can grip a biro and spoon.”

To complicate his woes, David suffered a dislocated hip. He was referred to the National Orthopedic Hospital, Igbobi where a surgeon initially said he could carry out the surgery for N1 million, with a 50/50 survival chance. But on the next appointment day, he chased them out “like dogs”, asking if they could not see that the leg was irredeemable.

However, a ray of light came their way when a church member who went to India for heart-related surgery took David’s x-ray with him. A team of experts at Vikian Specialist Hospital, India, examined it and assured the problem could be corrected with David having a good chance of recovery.

The experts recommended series of surgical procedures on the brain and hip estimated to cost N5 million. The brain surgery will work to completely eradicate the seizure attacks, leaving it with greater chance of correcting all the imbalances caused by the attacks, while with the hip surgery, David might be able to walk again over time.

With respect to this hope, the Onuegbes are passionately appealing for finiancial assistance.

Charity tearfully remarked: “This issue has drained our resources and also put us in debt, yet we cannot afford to keep watching him groan in pains. He has been recommended for multiple surgeries abroad which is estimated at N5 million and my family cannot afford it. We are therefore, passionately pleading with all whose heart God support us with the surgical operations.”

Donations for David can be sent to Onuegbe Chibuzor N. 2018357079, First Bank of Nig. Plc. Further details are obtainable on 08033284171, 08035137845 and 08085853139.