A five year old girl with hole in heart, Veronica Ogunwande, has appealed to the general public for financial assistance to carry out surgery in a foreign hospital.
Veronica through medical investigation carried out at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) was discovered to have a hole in heart when she was two years old according to her father, Mr Michael Ogunwande.
The save our soul message was contained in a letter of appeal to solicit for funds for medical operation for the little girl by her father who said that the surgery will cost between N8 million and N9million in a foreign hospital.
In the letter, Michael said, “My child is five year old and has been having difficulty in breathing since the age of two years. This has deteriorated in the last one month requiring me to see a paediatrician who examined and found out that she has a hole in the heart that will need open heart surgery.
“In the last one week, the child has been turning blue during little exercise. The Paediatrician referred me to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital to see a Cardiologist who did various tests which included ECG, ECHO chest X-RAY, PVC etc.”
The University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital in a letter titled “to whom it may concern” confirmed that Veronica was its patient.
According to the letter titled – RE: Ogunwande Veronica; 5yrs/Female/786468 jointly signed by Dr Abdulkadir M. B, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist and Professor A. D. Yussuf, Chief Medical Director of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, it said “The above named patient was first seen in our facility about a month ago with complaints of difficulty with breathing and poor weight gain.
“Echocardiography done revealed that the diagnosis of tetralogy of Fallot. This means that there are multiple heart defects with a hole in the heart and obstruction to the flow of blood to the lungs.
“She will require an open heart surgery to correct these defects so she can live an optimal life.
“The estimated cost of this procedure is between Seven and nine million Naira in facilities where the surgery is done in Nigeria.
“The Parents of the child have requested for this letter to support their search for funds for the surgery. Kindly accord them any necessary assistance”, the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital pleaded in the letter.
Michael who came to newsmen in Ilorin said, “All these suggested that my child is having heart disease that she was born with. The Cardiologist advised that she would need open heart surgery in and out of the country and this should be done quickly before adverse complications set in.”
The father of the girl who said that his family is poor and cannot raise such huge amount stated that he is a Carpenter by profession while his wife is a Teacher in a private school in Ilorin earning N10,000 per month.
“Presently, we have been able to raise N500,000 from family and friends, this is from sufficient for the surgery.
“Therefore, I’m begging you to help us to enable our child to undergo the surgery before it is too late. I am hereby soliciting for your kind assistance to enable my child to be taken to a good medical facility for the open heart surgery”, he passionately pleaded.
He, however, said all financial support should be sent to his UBA account number: 2143532336 with the name Ogunwande Michael Oyekunle.
