A 52-year-old mother, Idowu Kayode, has cried out for help after her son, Victor, was diagnosed with a heart condition that has made life unbearable for the family.
Idowu, a member of the Nigeria Police Force, said it had been hard seeing her son living with a hole in his heart as the family continued to gather the N4m requested to undergo surgery.
In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, the mother of four said the medical condition was first discovered in September 2023 when Victor was rushed to the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital in Ondo State.
She added that the doctors later placed the child on drugs to manage his health while his family was advised to consider surgery as the best solution.She said, “We were first informed of his condition at the university teaching hospital in Akure last year.
The doctors referred us to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, in Osun State. They did the echo test and confirmed the condition again. They have placed him on drugs since then.
“They also gave us the bill for the surgery because they advised that it was better to do the surgery. They said he had a hole in his heart and would require open-heart surgery to close the hole. The bill (given) was N4m. If they sell me, I am not worth N1m. I have never gathered such an amount since I have been working.”
In a medical report sighted by our correspondent, findings of the transthoracic echocardiogram showed that Victor has a ventricular septal defect which is a hole in the wall that separates the heart’s lower chambers.Idowu appealed to Nigerians to come to her aid in raising the money needed to do the surgery for her son.She said, “We were at the hospital in Ile-Ife on April 17 and 18 to meet with the paediatrician and the surgeon.
They warned us that with his condition, we needed to do the surgery as a matter of urgency. Even now, they are saying the money has increased due to the economic situation.”“I want Nigerians to help to save my son’s life.
He is a bright student but the medical condition affected his education so we had to move him to another school so we could monitor him properly.”
Donations can be made to her First Bank account with the number, 3007719946, and name, Kayode Idowu Stella.
PUNCH
