A four-year-old girl, Emmanuella Maduabuchi, has been diagnosed with eye cancer two years after sustaining an injury during playtime.
The Nursery two pupil has been battling pains since the eye incident but it worsened few months ago, and she was eventually diagnosed with eye cancer.
Speaking on behalf of the family, the founder of Verasam Foundation, Vera Sam, revealed that Maduabuchi got injured in 2020 after a playmate poked the child’s eyes with a broomstick.
“The case is actually here in Lagos State. As she was playing, a broomstick pierced her eyeball. She’s just four,” Sam revealed to The PUNCH on Wednesday.
Giving a background of the issue, Sam told our correspondent, “It happened when she was two. It was actually bringing out water and they (the family) said they were using eye drops and pain relievers.
“It deteriorated to this extent four months back. So she has been at home. She cannot even see with the eye totally. She’s been managing before but four months back, it totally became bad and started bringing out pus.
“It was when they asked them to go for chemotherapy that they now saw that it has resulted in cancer. So the only solution is removal.”
Sam noted that the family brought the issue to her to solicit for help on their behalf.
“I was in LUTH with them five days ago. The only solution is outright removal. I have the report from LUTH and the bill is N750,000 and the family cannot feed, talk more of raising N750,000,” Sam said.
Sam added that since the report from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, the foundation has been able to raise only N60,000.
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Appealing to the public, Sam added, “What we really need now is for the removal of the eye. She’ll heal and she’ll be fine. She is a very sharp girl.
“I’m just a helper. I run an NGO. They brought the issue to me so I decided to bring it up to the public for assistance because it’s huge.”
Confirming the situation, the care giver of the child, Cecilia, noted that Sam has been helping the family to raise funds for the operation.
Speaking on telephone with our correspondent, Cecilia said, “She (Sam) has been the one helping us. They said they want to do an operation for the child. We don’t have anything, so she came to the house and started helping us.
“That woman was sent by God. I don’t want this girl to die. Since when it was like this, I’ve not been resting. The child has not been sleeping.
“LUTH said they would do an operation so that they can remove the eye. I don’t know what to do. God just sent that woman. Please, you all should help me.”
Contributions can be made to the account below:
Bank: Access Bank
Account number: 0021269112
Account name: Gloria John
Vera Sam can also be reached on 07037461015.
