Class disparity, cultural limitation and social rejection are some of the constraints Favour Amadi, a three-year-old boy has to contend with on account of his birth.
Favour was born in Bayelsa State with a medical defect that prevents him from draining the fluids that protect his brain. As a result, his head has continually increased in size since birth. The medical name for his peculiar condition is Hydrocephalus.
Thus, Favour has been unable to fulfil the natural biological development expected of every child -- when it was time for Favour to sit, he couldn’t; when it was time to crawl, he couldn’t; when it was time to walk, he couldn’t, and when it was time to talk, he couldn’t -- yet he is alive and has continued to show instinct of survival. He struggles and wriggles within his limitation albeit unsuccessfully to smile to respond to sound.
According to information gathered, on seeing the medical condition of Favour, his father disowned him, saying he (the father) was too perfect to give birth to such a ‘being’.
Since then, Chinyere Amadi, the 40-year-old mother of the boy, said she had been struggling to take care of the boy. After spending all her life savings on seeking medical help for the boy, Mrs Amadi has continued to lament that her subsistence means of livelihood could no longer manage such a critical situation.
The helpless mother, who claimed to have exhausted every known source of help, also said the problem had been largely compounded by lack of fund and fear of stigmatisation, not just for herself, but also for the little boy who is often treated as an outcast in the community.
When crying for help, Mrs Amadi, who has suspended her part-time study at Niger Delta University, where she lives with Favour, said “the boy’s father fled on sighting the boy. I have been living as a single parent ever since. I have not been able to do much to remedy the situation as I have exhausted all my options, and I don’t know what else to do,” she lamented.
The mother, who is desperate to see her son not just live, but also to lead a normal life, called on all Nigerians to come to her aid.
Meanwhile, according to information made available to Saturday Tribune, what seemed like a glimmer of hope was kindled when a group, Everybody Counts International (ECI), on hearing of the plight of the boy, stepped into render a helping hand.
ECI, which is a registered charity organisation both in London and Nigeria, therefore, undertook all the medical preliminary efforts, which eventually led to a feedback of hope from a hospital in the United Kingdom, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, indicating that the chances of restoration and survival of Favour were very high.
But Great Ormond Street Hospital has indicated that the entire medical process, including post-operation management schedule, would gulp the sum of £15,000 (about N4 million) with a schedule of six months.
In a spirited effort to raise the required fund to save the boy, the chairperson of ECI, Dr, Emmanuela Akande, participated in a Tennis Charity Competition which was held in London, but sadly, the event could only produce a mere £500 (N137 000).
