*Man needs N2m for cornea transplant
When Chijioke Anthony Onyenwe marked
his 24th birthday, he was filled with joy and bubbling with health.
Indeed, like most young men of his age, he thought the world was his
footstool.
He had a sweetheart, whom had agreed
to marry him. The lady, Chioma, said that she loved him to distraction. He was
happy because he couldn’t imagine life without Chioma.
The rhythm of his life however soon
changed after he woke up one day and his right eye felt like it had particles
of sand. Before he knew what was happening, he has lost the sight of his two
eyes.
He counted on his family, friends
and fiancée to be his anchors as the storm raged in his life, leaving him
confused and panicking, but it was Chioma who first developed cold feet. The
lady jilted him, saying she couldn’t imagine being married to a blind man.
The lovers had dated for six months
before the mysterious blindness assailed Onyenwe. He is 27 now, but still walking alone. He
however believed that he would marry someday, to a lady, who truly loves him.
He said: “Chioma was not meant for
me. If she was, she would have stayed with me. When Chioma left, I had
repeatedly tried to reach out to her; I wanted to find out her whereabouts. I
called her line, but she refused to pick her calls. Someone assisted me in
sending text messages, but it became clear that she was avoiding me.”
Sick with love for his lady, Onyenwe
begged friends and family members to talk to Chioma on his behalf. They all
did, but the lady remained adamant.
He had already given up hope when
Chioma suddenly called one day, insisting that she needed to see him. Onyenwe
was ecstatic. But she didn’t come, rather she called him another day.
He recalled: “When she called me, I
was very happy that she has decided to return to me. My heart wasn’t the same
without Chioma. I was however shocked and hurt when she called and started shouting
at me on the phone. She said I should stop looking for her! She said she couldn’t
marry a blind man who would never see her. Since then, we lost contact. I
couldn’t eat for days and was quite depressed.”
Recalling the genesis of his life, Onyenwe
said that he dropped out of Army Day, Secondary School, Port Harcourt, Rivers,
due to financial problem. He would later go into buying and selling of female
shoes.
He said angrily: “Even if I see
Chioma again, but I pray I never see her, but if I see her again, I’ll never
marry her! She’s a lady I loved with all my heart, but she couldn’t stand by me
in this trying times. This means she would definitely had left when something
worse than this happens. I have made up my mind to marry an orphan from an
orphanage home. A lady who is an orphan must have gone through worse things in
life like me.”
This is now three years that Onyenwe
went blind. Not used to being dependent on anybody, Onyenwe sells kerosene in
front of his one-room apartment. He said that he uses his other senses to cook,
wash and clean.
Asked how on earth he could sell
kerosene without his sight, he smiled and said: “I know the measurement of the
bottles. I know the measurement I can pour when I want to sell. I’m used to my
environment. I know where certain things are kept in my room and area.”
The blind guy however has a tall
dream. He wants to become one of Nigeria’s music super stars. He also wishes to
go back to his trading after he might have raised money and done his eye
surgery.
According to him, he presently and desperately
needs N2 million for a cornea transplant. He said that doctors have assured him
once he was able to raise the sum and do the surgery, he would regain the use
of his right eye. The doctors said that the left eye was damaged beyond
correction due to neglect.
Remembering how he went blind, Onyenwe
said that his troubles started in 2012.
He explained that he woke up one
morning and discovered that he was having intense itch in his right eye.
His words: “My right eye started
itching uncontrollably as if someone poured a bowl of sand into it. When I
couldn’t take it anymore, l went to a nearby chemist to buy an eye drop and
drugs. This seemed to worsen the situation. I don’t even know how the left eye became
affected. I went to the hospital. The test carried out showed that the
cornea in the right eye had been damaged. Doctors said that the left eye was ‘dried
up,’ which means I won’t be able to see with the left eye again.”
He said that when the problem
started; he went to a doctor at Port-Harcourt. The doctor referred him to Eye
Foundation Centre in Ikeja, Lagos. He went to the Foundation with flaming hope,
but his hope was doused after he was told that he would have to pay N2 million
before the end of the year so that the surgery for the right eye would be
done fast.
Onyenwe said: “I was asked to
pay N2million for the surgery. I was given till the end of the year to get the
money and come for the operation, but as at now, with the help of various media
organisations, I’d been able to raise N900, 000 which is not enough!”
It’s quite saddening that aside from
his blindness, there are other issues troubling Onyenwe. He is the first child
in a family of eight kids. His father died in 2006. Onyenwe used to be the
breadwinner until his blindness. He said that his mother had spent money and
worked to the bones to ensure that he regained his sights. But her efforts had
been in vain.
Apparently due to much worry and
anxiety, the woman had become sickly.
“We’re financially handicapped right
now, which is why I’m using this medium to beg Nigerians to help me. If I can
regain the use of my eye, I wouldn’t beg. I would be able to take care of my
mother and siblings. My damaged eyes have taken every dime from my mother,” said
Onyenwe.
Onyenwe, who also aspired to become
a musician before his blindness, said that he abandoned his trading after his
eyes became a challenge.
He said: “I just want to do the
surgery and go back to my trading business and fulfill my dream of becoming a
music super star. This problem is really a headache to my family, especially my
mother who is now terribly sick. She used to go about with me to beg in order
to raise money for the surgery. But the stress is affecting her now. She has
fallen sick. I used to sell ladies shoes and bags, but since this problem started,
the business folded up.”
According to him, he had been
advised by many people to seek an herbalist to heal his eyes. He refused. He
said that he believe in God, stressing that darkness and light cannot agree. He
added: “I believe very much in God.”
He further added: “When my friends
saw that money for the surgery was not coming, they suggested I visit a native
doctor, to see if there was somebody behind my problem. I never went because I
believe in the God I’m serving. I shall be able to see again! I know it! I
believe it!”
Onyenwe’s friend, Christian Clinton,
also a shoe trader in Port-Harcourt, said that it was because of Onyenwe
sight’s problem that he had to come to Lagos in order to give Onyenwe the
necessary support and assistance. Clinton is now the person that used to act as
guide to Onyenwe.
Clinton said: “As at 2013, this
problem wasn’t this serious. At least, he could still see properly back then. But
after some months, it became serious that people had to start taking him around.
I decided to bring him to Lagos in order to assist him because there was no one
else. When we got to Lagos, we started raising money by going to politicians,
and meeting people for assistance which had been a great challenge for us even
some promised us and till now we haven’t seen anything.”
Clinton urged Nigerians to assist Onyenwe
in raising the remaining part of the money before the end of the year. He
also wanted Nigerians to remember Onyenwe in their prayers.
Onyenwe said that well-meaning
Nigerians who want to give him money should send it to his account.
Account name: Chijioke Anthony Onyenwe
Diamond Bank: 0051243707.
For Further information people
should call his phone number: 08148318987/ 08185695791.
NEW TELEGRAPH
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