A Delta State resident, Felicia Ohanaga, has cried out over the deteriorating health of her 17-year-old brother, Daniel, who is to undergo amputation of the right leg as a result of cancer.
Daniel has been suffering from a leg infection after he was hit by a car, while on a moving bike with his mother in 2019.
Felicia, who resides in Ozoro in the Isoko North Local Government Area of Edo State, revealed that their mother died at the spot of the accident while her brother sustained a leg injury.
Speaking to our correspondent on phone, Felicia said, “When my mother and brother were coming back from Warri on a journey, they had an accident when a car hit the bike carrying them. My mother died on the spot.
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“The car hit my brother’s leg, as he was in the middle and my mother was sitting behind. We carried him to the hospital.
“We rear pigs and do farming for a living. So I had to sell one of the pigs to foot my brother’s medical bills. After we went to the hospital, we were then advised to go to a herbal home.
“When we went there, they were using leaves to treat him. While he drank some herbs, others were used to cover the leg. Instead of the leg to get better, it started decaying and getting ‘rotten’.
“I told the man that his treatment was not effective but he assured me that my brother will be okay.”
But when her brother’s health deteriorated, Felicia had to take him back to the hospital. There, she was told that the leg had to be amputated.
“At one point, I had to take him back to the hospital at Federal Medical Centre, Asaba. The doctor said the leg has decayed and would need to be amputated. That was late last year,” Felicia said.
She lamented that since the incident, they had sold most of their pigs to help them feed and treat her brother.
Felicia lamented, “We have some pigs we rear but we’ve sold most of them and used the money for feeding and treatment. There were about six pigs but we have sold them all and it’s just two remaining.”
Corroborating her claims, the doctor in charge of the case, Dr Godwin Onakomene, revealed that Daniel was suffering from cancer before the accident, unbeknownst to the family.
Speaking to our correspondent on Saturday, Onakomene said, “The main issue was that the boy was having a problem which they had not found out before.
“Osteosarcoma is the name of the cancer. It’s a deadly cancer, so he needs an amputation. It has passed the level of osteonecrosis.”
He added that the faster they get the amputation done, the better for Daniel.
The pathologist said, “He needs a surgical operation to remove the leg. That’s the only thing that can save the leg because the situation is getting worse. Cancer is a deadly disease that spreads gradually, so the quicker they do it, the better for them.”
He stated that as of now, N600,000 was enough for the operation.
Speaking of efforts to get the money, Felicia stated that she had been able to save N70,000 and will need N530,000, which according to her, the family was unable to afford.
She said, “I’ve been farming, selling cassava and other things to gather the money for the amputation. I have managed to gather N70,000.”
She, therefore, called on the masses to support her family and raise the amount for the amputation, to prevent a worsened condition.
Contributions can be made to the account below:
Bank: Eco Bank
Account number: 5431013888
Account name: Felicia Ohanaga
Felicia can also be reached on 0812042816.
