Mrs. Grace Sharon Chijoke, a primary school teacher in a private school in Enugu has cried out for help to save the life of her child, Chidubem Emmanuel Chijoke, who is suffering from bladder exstrophy.
According to urologists, bladder exstrophy is a birth defect, a condition where the bladder and parts around it form inside-out. The skin, muscle and pelvic (hip) bones at the lower part of the belly or abdomen are not joined. As a result, the inside of the bladder pokes outside the belly.
Lamenting her ordeal, Mrs. Chijoke said that Chidubem, aged 11, was born with a malformed scrotum which medical experts call bladder exstrophy, a condition that makes him to urinate uncontrollably since October 24, 2013 and has been wearing diapers like a baby.
As a result of the bladder issue, Chidubem is billed to undergo six different surgeries before he will be able to urinate normally. So far, he has undergone four of the surgeries, leaving out two comprising bladder neck connection and another one for hypospadias [a congenital condition in which the meatus or opening isn’t at the tip of the penis] to enable him make use of his penis.
According to her, the family had spent over N8 million for the surgeries and for the continuous purchase of diapers, but the remaining surgical interventions would cost about N8 million or thereabout because the last time they did the surgery, doctors at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, billed them N6 million.
The distraught mother said what made her to cry out for help is that her husband, Chijoke Emmanuel, a tricycle driver, has abandoned her and the three other children they had together and had become untraceable.
According to her, Emmanuel had said he was going to the North to make money but she didn’t know he was abandoning the family because he could not cope with the family needs, especially with regard to Chidubem’s case.
“I have been bearing this alone for two years now that my husband has abandoned us and absconded to only God knows where. Chidubem will be going to secondary school soon, but how will he be going about in diapers?” she laments.
She said that she has sought help from relatives, friends and well-wishers, but no help has come from them so far and that the option left for her is to cry out so that “anybody anywhere can come and help me.”
The mother-of-four who lives at No. 15, Ekwulobia Street, Garriki area of Enugu South Local Government Area but hails from Ekerefi, Nkanu East LGA of Enugu State, added: “I am a teacher with Divtresh School, Enugu.
“Chidubem was born 11 years ago, while his elder sister was born 13 years ago and his younger brother is about six now.
“I can no longer cope. My husband, Chijoke, a Keke driver left us two years ago because of family problems.”
For those who might wish to come to the young boy’s aid, Mrs. Chijioke’s account detail is as follows:
Account name: Grace Sharon Chijoke
Fidelity Bank: 6161628474.
