After losing four babies, musician begs for public help to save another child’s life
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| Treasure |
Obviously, if the above scenario
hasn’t happened to you, you could only imagine how you would feel.
But it has happened to one man, a
musician by name Godwin Edet Udoekong, so you can imagine how he feels.
Treasure is Edet’s child whose
life is currently at risk. She was born on October 20, 2017 to Edet who hails
from Ibiaku Offot, Uyo LGA, Akwa Ibom State and his wife, Imaobong Loveth Edet
of Ikono LGA in the same state.
Treasure was born in Lagos,
though, like her elder siblings, as her parents reside in Lagos.
Treasure is the fourth and last
child of the Edets. However, she should or might have been their eight, as
prior to having her, four of their children died shortly after birth.
The first three that died was
when the Edets were living in Surulere, Lagos and after the successful birth of
their first child, a girl they named Blessing. Maybe the first death elicited
sympathy from their neighbours. But the second and third deaths made their
neighbours begin to suspect them of being evil and their attitude towards them
changed.
The stigmatization was so much
for them to bear that they relocated from Surulere and it seemed to be a good
move on their part as they met a lady in their new church who introduced them
to the Living Spring Hospital, Ejigbo, Lagos where the founder, Dr Akinde,
explained to them what led to their babies’ deaths.
He said that since Mrs Edet was
diabetic, in the last two weeks before her expected delivery date, the babies
amassed much more weight and this was what led to the complications that made
them die not long after delivery.
So his solution was they would
induce her to deliver two weeks before her expected delivery day. Already, Mrs
Edet was pregnant again for the fifth time and they were already worried as to
if the baby would die again but Akinde’s explanation and proposed solution
reassured them.
And the solution worked so well
they were able to have two more children who didn’t die, two boys they named
Victor and Prince.
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| Godwin Edet |
Mrs Edet became pregnant the seventh time and a charity organization in their then-church said they would be responsible for her delivery. They enrolled her for ante-natal at Subol Hospital, Ikotun Road, Lagos and the Edets explained their childbearing tragedies to them.
The Subol people assured them
they were in safe hands, that they would deliver her normally and there would
be no problem.
Truly, they delivered her, but
the following day, they discovered the child had jaundice and commenced
treatment but it died three days afterwards.
Sad again at losing yet another
child when they had thought that phase of their life was over, they opted for
family planning and were still on it when they discovered Mrs Edet was pregnant
again.
So they went back to Living
Spring Hospital that had already proven it knew how to deliver their children
properly and the induction method they had used successfully previously was
called upon again.
This time around though, the
child that came, the girl they would eventually name Treasure, was discovered
to also have jaundice four days after birth and it was treated successfully.
Three months after, though, she
couldn’t sleep again, would just be crying ceaselessly, stretching and behaving
abnormally and Akinde referred them to the Lagos State Teaching Hospital,
Ikeja.
There, all sorts of tests were
conducted on Treasure and Dr M A Salisu, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist,
informed them Treasure had cerebral palsy and that she would only survive it
with attention and all the right treatment at the right time.
So Mrs Edet, a caterer who was
earning N40,000 per month, had to give up her job to have the necessary time to
take care of Treasure who required 24-hour care.
All the burden of taking care of
the family then fell on Mr Edet, a talented musician and music teacher whose
income isn’t stable but fluctuates in the region of N60,000 or below every
month.
Taking care of Treasure properly
therefore became a Herculean task for the Edets as she required constant drugs,
tests, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
Mr Edet believes it’s because
they’ve not been able to take care of her properly that she hasn’t become
better, that they don’t feed her the best food and they struggle to get her
drugs.
They keep searching for a
solution for her, though, and Mr Edet’s niece based in Canada informed him that
someone she knows with a cerebral palsy child took it to Trishla Orthopedic
Clinic & Rehab Center, India and the child became better.
So the Edets too got in touch
with Trishla and Dr Jitendra Kumar Jain of Trishla got back to them on
11/12/2020 with all they would need for a five-month India stay in which
Treasure would be treated and the Edets would also be taught how to take care
of her properly when they return to Nigeria.
According to Jain, some of their
approximated expenses would be: botulinum toxin & plaster: $700; physio
& speech therapy: $1750; accommodation: $1000.
For the India trip, the Edets
require N3,500,000 and N1,500,000 would be to help them settle down when they
return back to Nigeria, making a total of N5m.
And on why they finally decided
to seek public help after trying their best to take care of Treasure on their
own for over three years now, Mr Edet said, “It’s because I don’t want another
of my children to die. Four of my children have died already and it’s a very
dejecting experience. I realize now I don’t have the capacity to take care of
Treasure, I’m not feeding her well, her drugs and tests come late, and I don’t
want her to die due to inadequate care. Please help me save her life as I love
her so much despite her condition.”
To help save Treasure’s life, you
can do so through this link: https://donate-ng.com/campaign/help-save-3-year-old-treasure
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