Nine-year-old girl, one other need N2.5m to fight cancer

A lthough nine-year-old Eniola Adepitan and 22-year-old Omolara Onibudo, are not relatives, fate has brought them together in their quest for good health.

Adepitan suffers from cancer of the bone, Onibudo has cancer of the lip.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Monday in Magboro, Ogun State, Onibudo said her guardians had spent hundreds of thousands of naira on her yet her problem persists.

She said, “In May 2010, I discovered that I had a wound on my upper lip then I started bleeding from the affected lip. I sought medical attention at the Epe General Hospital, Epe, Lagos State, before I was referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

“After undergoing different tests and medical examinations, I was diagnosed with cancer of the lips. Due to the fact that my parents are aged and have since stopped working, my siblings are the ones doing the running around for me. They have spent hundreds of thousands of naira they borrowed from people and unfortunately, there is no hope of getting more money.”

Onibudo, who spoke in hushed voice due to the fact that her upper lip had protruded, said she needed to undergo fresh tests prior to another surgery.

She said, “The last money we paid at the hospital was N150, 000 for drugs, tests and x-rays and it’s almost exhausted. The doctors would in the next few days cut some samples of my lips to enable them to carry out some medical examinations preparatory to surgery.”

While appealing to the general public for help, Onibudo who dropped out of secondary school in 2010 as a result of the problem, said “I will love to live a normal life again and get relieved from the shackles of cancer.”

Nine-year-old Eniola’s case is also pathetic. Her right leg has been amputated. Eniola’s mother, Dorcas Adepitan, said her daughter returned home on July 12, 2012, complaining that she hit her leg on a desk in her school located in Bariga.

Dorcas said, “I took her to hospital for treatment when she returned from school that day. After carrying out X-rays, the doctor said she neither had fracture nor dislocation on her leg.

 “When she incessantly complained of pains on her leg we returned to the hospital and further CT-scans and medical examinations revealed that she had lumps and some cancerous growths in the affected right leg.”

Dorcas, a petty trader, said her daughter was later diagnosed with cancer of the bone.  When her condition worsened, she said doctors in LUTH advised that Eniola’s right leg be amputated.

Eniola, a primary six pupil, told PUNCH Metro that she had not resumed school for the 2012/2013 academic session due to her condition.

 “I have not been able to go to school since my colleagues resumed for this academic session as I have always been in and out of hospital. I will be in need of an artificial limb to get me back on track so that I can join my classmates in school, “Eniola said.

President, Eko Lions Club, Sefiu Daramola, said the independent findings of the group showed that the two cancer patients would need N2.5m to get them back to normal life.

“About N2m is required for Onibudo’s surgery and post-surgery needs while Eniola needs N500, 000 to complete her chemotherapy treatment and to get her an artificial limb,“ he said.