THISDAY Staff Seeks N8m For Heart Surgery

THISDAY Newspaper correspondent in Calabar, Cross River State, Mr. Jude Okwe, is in dire need of financial help to save him from a life-threatening heart disease. He is asking governments at all levels, non-governmental organisations, religious groups, social groups and individuals to come to his aid.

THE ThisDay correspondent in Calabar, Cross River State, Mr. Jude Okwe is in great need of urgent medical attention abroad to survive and write again.

After a series of tests at Echo-Scan Heart Centre and Heartland Cardiovascular Consultants in Abuja, Okwe was said to be having an enlarged heart. He was referred to these places for test by Primus Inter Specialty Hospital, Karu, Abuja, where he was admitted for almost a month before he was discharged last week.

After a series of futile effort in hospitals in Calabar, Okwe, with assistance from the Cross River State government, was flown to Abuja where he was admitted into the Primus Inter Specialty Hospital, Karu, Abuja.

Medical reports from Heartland and signed by the Medical Director, Dr. Onye Achilihu said: “Mr. Okwe has severe heart failure due to cardiomyopathy. He will urgently need proper treatment which will include optimal medical therapy, cardiac catheterization, and angiogram to exclude a reversible cause. In addition, he will need internal defibrillator to prevent sudden cardiac death.”

Okwe who came back from the hospital in Abuja is now lying helpless at his 8, Edem Oyom Street, off Mbukpa Road residence with a failing heart and swollen legs.

In a low tone, he spoke with some of his colleagues, saying: “The heart problem is still there but it has been brought under control. But the doctor said I have an enlarged heart and I need N8 million for heart transplant in India. If the money can be raised quickly, it would be better because the doctor said too much delay might lead to sudden death. The doctor said my heart has enlarged like twice the size of a normal heart and for it to normalise again, I need heart transplant. My heart has become flat and the blood circulation is very poor.

“The problem has been there since 2010 when I discovered I had difficulty in breathing and I went to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital and you know that it is a government hospital. Instead of finding cure, they were now using me as a guinea to teach students. The doctors there were not attentive; they only tested my BP and other minor things and then prescribed some drugs for me. I would take those drugs but no relief. If I had known that my heart was enlarging, I could have gotten alternative treatment and I think it would not have gotten to this.

“Government should assist me because I don’t have N8 million. Where will I get such money? I am appealing to members of the public, churches, philanthropists to help me out of this condition because I still have enough to offer journalism and the society. This sickness is weighing me down and I am really missing journalism. Each time I miss news, I don’t feel happy. It’s affecting my family already.

“I have four children in the university and for a man who is down, it is not easy. I am just appealing to the public and the government for help. I know Governor Liyel Imoke has tried but I urge him to do more. My brother who is a teacher has done the little he could within the limit of his resources. My younger ones are not financially strong. Please, I need help.”