Sends SOS to Gov. Okorocha, public spirited Nigerians

By Akoma Chinweoke & Yinka Ajaiyi

A 42-year- old petty trader, at Isolo market, Lagos, Mrs. Ifenyinwa Amakonze,  from Eziani Mgbidi, Oru-west local government area of Imo State,  is  bed ridden  due to chronic kidney disease. More pathetic is the fact that as  an anti-hypertensives patient, she requires regular iron injections ahead of  kidney transplant. She urgently needs over N12 million to undergo  the  transplant  to  save her from  death,

In a chat with Sunday Vanguard, the once  pretty woman,  now a shadow of herself, confessed that she was going through hell

“ I am  too weak, I can no longer breath  well. Every night, I stay awake having being confined to a  chair since I can’t  lie down to sleep. This strange illness started in April 2005 and the situation grew worse between June and July last year. Since then, my health has grown from bad to worse. I am appealing to good spirited Nigerians to save my life.”

Ify, as she is fondly called, has been on  haemodialysis three times every week to  stay alive.  The  woman is desperately in need of financial help from kind-hearted individuals, organisations and government to enable her undergo  a kidney transplant.

A  Lagos State University Teaching  Hospital, Department of Medicine report  said the patient  was presented on   August, 17,  2015 when she was admitted and first diagnosed to have chronic kidney disease, secondary to hypertension. The report went on: “She was subsequently discharged to the kidney clinic and has been on maintained haemodialysis which she needs to continue three times weekly. She is also on anti-hypertensives, iron injections and being worked up for kidney transplant, which is capital intensive. Please give all necessary assistance”.

The man who Ify has been married to since 1990 and blessed with five children, four girls and one boy, Mr. Augustine Amakonze said, “ This illness is like a nightmare to me. We observed she was emaciating last July. We  went  to  Igando General Hospital, Lagos. From there, we went to  Gbagada  Hospital, then LUTH. She has done  dialysis more than 25 times and each cost  about N60,500 per week.  Any  week  we can’t afford money for dialysis, she goes  into  coma. Each time, we spend hundreds of thousands of Naira to revive her. I am just a trader at Ladipo Market, Lagos and a member of the Lord’s Chosen Church . Members of my church have been helping me with money for drugs, but the doctor said her two kidney have  been badly damaged and it will cost us a minimum of N12 million for the transplant in a reputable hospital in India.

“My wife is just 42 years old and I don’t want her to die. As I am presently, I cannot boast of N50  as a family man. All my life saving is gone  on  dialysis”.

According to him, Ify  used to be a petty trader at Isolo Market, but for eight months now, her shop has been under locked key due to the  illness. “My townsmen were able to help us with  N70,000.  I even went  to see the  local government chairman at Oru-West where we hail from, but I was told that there is no provision for free health care. The only help I want  from kind hearted Nigerians is to assist my wife to leave a normal life again. I cannot afford money for drugs”.

Pleading with Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo, his home state, and kind hearted  Nigerians to come to his aid, the husband said: “Although we  have been made to understand that, she can continue with a dialysis only to stay alive without having to live a normal life while the kidney problem remains unresolved but I want my wife to live a normal life again. I want her to look after our children and not to be a liability to us.”

 Public spirited people can contact  these phone numbers, 08034415454, 08032231608, to reach the Amakonze family or donate money through Augustine Amakonze, Zenith Bank Account Number 2002463320.