A football agent, 50-year-old Olawale Johnson was unaware he was suffering from diabetics. He, therefore, did not seek any medical treatment. When he went for medical check-up four months ago, he was diagnosed of the ailment. He was placed on intensive treatment, even though he did not comply holistically. He was told that his leg would be amputated in order not to worsen his health. To this he agreed.
After the amputation, he had no money to obtain an artificial limb. But he was informed by a journalist friend popularly called SOJ of how Rotary Club of Lagos-Palm Grove Estate, Nigeria (District 9110) and Hindu Mandir Foundation are providing artificial limbs for the needy.
According to Olawale, he found his way to the Ilupeju area of Lagos where the club is located and was registered free. Not only that, he got his height measured in proportion to the artificial limb he would receive. Today, Olawale can move around freely, even as he hopes to resume his normal activities, which hitherto was hindered because of lack of mobility.
Olawale described the gesture as one of the best things that had happened to him, adding that “it was quite different from what obtains in government hospitals. The nurses, doctors and other people here are humankind with human feelings. I appreciate them.”
A retired electrical engineer, 64-year-old Omobamidele Ogunnaike is another beneficiary and he did not hide his feelings having been to Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital.
He said: “Where I was not treated well. I could not afford the cost of the artificial limb itself. I was diabetic and along the line my legs had to be amputated in June. Between that time and now it was hell. I could not move around. To even go to the gents or bath myself was hard. I thank the Rotary Club for this free artificial leg that has greatly improved my life and livelihood.”
Ogunnaike could not hide his feelings as he added that government hospitals that ought to assist patients that required limbs are nonchalant, saying government did not provide for such free.
He said: “The Federal Government should step in and provide or subsidise it. This is because, once a person is amputated, he becomes useless without any device such as the artificial limbs to assist him. For this device I thank the Rotary Club of Lagos-Palm Grove Estate, Nigeria (District 9110) and Hindu Mandir Foundation.”
Describing life without legs, Ogunnaike said those with deep concern came around to check on him.
“As many avoided me because mobility was restricted, my happiness was curtailed. Within the house I could not go to the gents by myself, or even take my bath unaided. It was a world of liability on others as a result of my disability. Now, I will be able to do many things unaided and my family will be greatly relieved.
“I will be able to associate now because I am happier. I am not ashamed of the artificial limb because what has happened has happened. There are some people in worse pathetic conditions. That I have a second chance to get a leg and move around is gladdening and to be able to even do some work.”
For 32-year-old Shikiru Yinusa, when in 2012, he set out for work, little did he know he will be involved in an accident at Ojuelegba that claimed many lives, and later got his leg amputated. Yinusa, who is married and has a child, said he got an artificial limb at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi which expired and he had no money to obtain a replacement, because his fortune had nose-dived.
He was lucky as a friend directed him to the Rotary Club of Lagos-Palm Grove Estate, Nigeria (District 9110) and Hindu Mandir Foundation.
There, he got enrolled and also became a beneficiary of the free limb. He was so happy.
“Now I can continue with my work,” he said.
Another of the recipients who is in his late twenties and jobless and who does not want his name in print, said he was a truck driver at Shagamu, Ogun State before he was involved in an accident in April last year.
“My boss tried for me but it was not enough. The leg had to be amputated. Thereafter, I was helpless without a limb. I thank Rotary Club of Lagos-Palm Grove Estate, Nigeria (District 9110) and Hindu Mandir Foundation for this free limb because I did not believe I could still walk freely. I am equally told I can drive with it. I am so happy,” he added.
He equally wants the government to assist the Rotary Club of Lagos-Palm Grove Estate, Nigeria (District 9110) and Hindu Mandir Foundation in order to do more because, “many are out there in need of limbs. Also, many will still be in need of limbs due to accidents or even diseases,” he noted.
A 70-year-old woman who identified herself simply as Mrs Evelyn could not hide her joy as she attempted to walk with the artificial limb. Mrs Evelyn recalled that she was sick with diabetes, and due to poor management, the condition worsened and eventually her leg was amputated “because doctors told me that it has started eating my bones. To avoid further damage, we had to get it amputated”.
On how she heard about the free limbs, Mrs Evelyn said it was one of her sons that got the information from his friend that Rotary Club of Lagos-Palm Grove Estate, Nigeria (District 9110) and Hindu Mandir Foundation are giving free limbs to Nigerians who are in need of such. We traced the place to Ilupeju and here I am now with the leg. I am grateful because life has not been the same since the leg was cut off,’ she said.
A 28-year-old Funke Akingboye, an undergraduate of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) who was the lone recipient of artificial hand said having a hand to do every day chore is a thing of joy.
Miss Akingboye, who is a final year Law student recalled that she was involved in a rough play in 1999, when she was 19 years old, and had one of her upper extremities dislocated. She was taken to a traditional bone setter who did some incisions on her and rubbed some concoctions on it with strict warning not to open same until after seven days.
Miss Akingboye said by the second day she was not comfortable with the sharp pains she was experiencing on the hand.
She said: “By the third day, it became unbearable, as I felt it was affecting my heart. I had to force my parents to remove it. We all saw that the hand had become really bad as the flesh has turned green and smelly. We raced to the hospital. We were told that gangrene or sepsis has affected the hand and we must cut it off to save my life. It was so painful but I had no choice.”
She said as a matter of sincerity she always feel odd and a misfit in any gathering.
“We the physically-challenged in Nigeria have different challenges. It is not easy to be physically-challenged in this country. For instance, I have no hand, so to watch, cook, or do other every day chore is really challenging. But members of my family are kind, caring and supportive,” said Miss Akingboye.
She wants government to assist the disabled in the society. “I belong to the Mainland Disabled Association of Yaba Local Government Area. I can tell you there are so many Nigerians who can do many things if government assists them. Lagos State has taken the lead and we know the Federal Government might be able to help, especially in the area of job and employment for the disabled,” she said.
For a resident of Agbado- Ijaiye and a petty trader, 24-year-old Mrs Toyin Adeyemi, it was all smiles and gratitude to God and the Rotary Club of Lagos-Palm Grove Estate, Nigeria (District 9110) and Hindu Mandir Foundation.
Mrs Adeyemi narrated to Southwest Report how; in 2016 the leg of her two-year-old-daughter was amputated.
“Two years later, I am grateful to God that she has the leg replaced. She will be able to move around without crawling,” she said.
Mrs Adeyemi thanked the Rotary Club of Lagos-Palm Grove Estate, Nigeria (District 9110) and Hindu Mandir Foundation for their intervention.
