A patient at the Zenith Medical and Kidney Clinic, Mrs Kehinde Ugbede, is seeking over N20 million for kidney transplant.
Before being diagnosed of end-stage kidney disease in February 2018, Ugbede was a banker who got married two months earlier to a school teacher. She had gone to the hospital for a pregnancy check when she received the unexpected diagnosis of chronic kidney disease.
Since then, Ugbede with the support of her family, friends and well-meaning Nigerians have spent N50 million on a hemodialysis, which manages rather than cures the disease.
Hemodialysis, however, is quite expensive. Enquires indicate that cost of dialysis ranges from N45,000 to N60,000 per treatment, whilst patients are encouraged to undergone treatment thrice a week.
“I have spent over N50 million in six years on dialysis. I spend N120,000 every week, that is after reducing the treatment to twice a week due to financial constraints.
“I appreciate my family, friends and good Nigerians who have supported me thus far. Without them, I don’t know what I would have done.
“However, I need over N20 million to undergone a kidney transplant (at the Zenith Medical and Kidney Clinic) which is the only cure for the disease. I already have a kidney donor, my twin. It is only financial constraint that is delaying the transplant.
“My family and I don’t have that kind of money. Some days, I resort to begging on the street when I am unable to raise funds for dialysis,” she said.
Ugbede further recalled the initial period of her diagnosis in 2019 when she had spent a year in a vegetative state, saying but for the support of former employer, work colleagues, family and the church, she would have died.
“God has given me a second chance to live. That is why I am pleading with Nigerians to help me raise funds to undergo transplant,” said Ugbede.
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