The mother of Wonderful Chidibem, an 11-year-old boy, who is suffering from blood cancer, known in the medical parlance as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Mrs Florence Chiamaka Chidibem, has cried out for help from good spirited Nigerians to save the life of her son.
Mrs Chidibem, 43, widow and mother of four children, disclosed that since her son ailment started in September 2020, she had spent over two million naira on his treatment all to no avail, but with medical advice that she needed to take the little boy to a hospital in Italy for further treatment.
A teacher in a private secondary school, Fluorite High School, Oluku, Benin City, the distraught mother who came to the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalist, NUJ, Secretariat last Thursday, disclosed that she had sold off all she had to finance the treatment of her son, Wonderful, the last of the five children of three girls and two boys.
Widowed in 2009, Mrs Chidibem was given a letter by the authorities of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, attesting to the fact that she is in dire need of financial assistance to finance the treatment of her son.
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The letter, titled, “Re: Chidubem Wonderful, M/11 Years”, and endorsed by Dr Y.T Israel-Aina, a Paediatric Oncologist and Professor C. Omuemu, Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, MAC, and Director, Clinical Services and Training, both of UBTH, described Wonderful’s ailment as “Hodgkin’s lymphoma”.
The letter reads: “The above named is an 11-year-old boy who is managed for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He presented 6 weeks ago with complaints of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is blood cancer”.
“The investigations done confirmed that he has the disease. He has been on chemotherapy and has had several blood transfusions and other supportive medications. Currently, he needs to continue chemotherapy and may need other treatment like radiotherapy for the cure of his disease. The mother has spent a lot of money on his treatment so far. She requires further financial help to support his treatment as chemotherapy drugs are quite expensive and radiotherapy is even more expensive. The mother will like to use this medium to solicit financial help for her child”, the letter added, and pleaded “kindly accord her the necessary help in raising funds for this child’s treatment”.
Lamenting her predicament, Mrs Chidibem, who hails from Imo State, said: “I have five children of three girls and two boys. Wonderful is the last born. In September 2020, he complained of stomach ache and I first took him to a hospital that is close to the house and I was asked to take him to UBTH. He has been in UBTH since January 2021 and I have spent more than two million Naira. I have sold off everything I have because his father, my husband, died in 2009. He is presently on oxygen at the hospital”.
She further volunteered that the consultant in charge of Wonderful’s treatment had advised that the boy be taken to a hospital in Italy, “but they did not tell me how much the hospital in Italy will cost. But another parent who had been to the hospital in Italy said she spent twenty-something million Naira. I don’t have twenty-something thousand Naira as I have sold off all that I have treating him. The consultant at UBTH told me that if I want my child alive, I should take him to Italy. I want my child to live and that is why I am appealing to good spirited Nigerians to come to my aid”.
Mrs Chidibem confirmed that when the ailment started, Wonderful’s relations from his late father’s lineage could only raise N170, 000 which was not sufficient to buy the required drugs.
“Three of my in-laws gave me money. One gave me N100,000, another gave me N50,000 and the third one gave me N20,000. These are not even enough to buy drugs for one week. Chemo treatment is N350,000 every 14 days. Now, he is in a coma and the doctor said it is because he is not being given the right drugs and I don’t have the money for the right drugs,” she grieved.