Boy, 19, needs N6.4m for stem cell transplan

Femi Oduntan, who has been suffering from spinal cord-related injuries since 2011, in this report by Bukola Adebayo, is calling on Nigerians to come to his rescue and help him raiseN6.4m for a stem cell transplant in India

Nineteen-year-old Femi  Oduntan is lucky to be alive today.Others who  suffered a similar fate like.have not lived to tell their stories.

Oduntan,  a 200 level student in  the Computer Science Department,  Lagos State University, Ojo Campus,has been confined to a wheelchair since he  sustained a spinal cord injury  which has confined him to a wheel chair after a diving accident at the Alpha Beach in Lagos in January 2011.

His mother,  Omowunmi, who spoke with our correspondent when she visited  THE PUNCH Place,  Magboro, Ogun State, for financial assistance,saidN6.4m was needed to correct the damage to her son’s spinal cord.

She said the amount would cover the cost of treatment and travel for 40 days at Fortis  Hospital, New Delhi, India.

This is a huge amount for the Oduntans, who have spent over N6m naira on hospital bills since their son began treatment in local hospitals in the last 18 months ago,and they are calling on government, organisations and well-meaning Nigerians to raise the N6.4m for Femi’s  treatment.

Narrating their ordeal, Omowunmi, who  was accompanied  to the Punch office by her husband, Ayodele,  said the family  had sold all their properties and exhausted their savings to keep the boy alive for the past one and half years.

She said, “I sold everything in my provision store, his father also sold every property that he had. If not for family members who have been helping out, he might have died. We have no source of livelihood for now, and we are calling on Nigerians to help  prevent our son from dying.”

Apart from the financial and emotional turmoil  of his condition, Femi, has also  suffered some academic setbacks, because instead of receiving  lectures, he was either in and out of the hospital receiving treatment.

This harrowing experience began in 2011 after Femi  sustained severe head injuries after a diving accident at the Alpha Beach in Lagos and was rushed  to the  National Orthopaedic Hospital,  Igbobi, Lagos.  He was  later referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba  due to his critical condition.

Omowunmi  said, “ He was  unconscious  and  could not move his hands and legs and he had not used the toilet or eaten in days. We were  referred  to the Intensive Care Unit at LUTH  where  he was on respiratory support for almost two weeks. The doctor told us  his chance of survival then  was  10 per cent.”

Although  Femi  survived, several injuries that he had sustained remained unhealed. He is wheelchair-bound at an age he should be active and furthering his studies.

In a  medical report, his doctor, a consultant Neurosurgeon at LUTH,  Dr. Olufemi Bankole, said due to the gluteal and sacral pressure ulcers that remained unhealed, Femi would be wheel chair- bound  until he regains the proximal use of his limb.

The import of this diagnosis is that Femi  has to be assisted in his day to day activities like a baby.

His  mother said, “He cannot use the toilet on his own, they passed a catheter  through his  penis  for him to urinate and I have to assist him to defecate. I insert my hands into his anus to bring out his excreta. He cannot walk and we have to carry him anywhere.  I have been  bathing  him and also feeding him for the past 18 months.”

However, there is hope for Femi, but it lies at Fortis Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Going by the medical report given to the Oduntans by   Dr. G.V Ramdas in India, Femi  has a C4 fracture with dislocation and spinal cord injury which seems to be a complete below C5.

The diagnosis reads, “ He has problems of bedsores and it is already ten months old. The only option is decompression and stabilisation to prevent ongoing injury at the fracture site. We may have to do a stem cell transplant which is however not an accepted form of treatment but being tried out with variable results.

“However, that is the only option, as surgery at this stage can worsen the patient’s  condition. If the patient is willing to accept the risk, if something is compressed and therefore not working, then it can be improved.”

Meanwhile, Femi’s  father, Ayodele, said the family  had been able to raise N1m naira but other efforts to gather the remaining amount had been frustrated.

Ayodele said, “We spent  over N6m on various treatments that  he has been receiving at LUTH and other hospitals just to keep him alive. We were begging to pay the bills he incurred at the ICU unit. In fact my business is not functioning.

“I  am appealing to corporate organisations, governments and Nigerians  to come and rescue my son. He reads and writes very well, nothing is wrong with his brain but he cannot walk. For him to have survived  till today, I know God has a special plan for him. Nigerians should help me rescue  my boy.”
Donations for Femi can be made to this account: Omowunmi Oduntan: 0003840165: ECOBANK.

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