Group to sponsor N10m surgery for 6-year-old brain tumor victim in Anambra
By Chinedum Treasure
A group, Great Ifedinma Friends Club of Nigeria has pledged to undertake a surgery worth N10 million of the six-year-old Chimuanya Emegwaribe diagnosed with severe brain tumour that had paralysed her while she was four.
Chimuanya, born a normal child, had developed partial visual challenges, which later degenerated into severe problems when she fell and hit her head on the floor.
According to the mother, Mrs Jennifer Emegwaribe, the victim was later diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2024, which surgery was then valued at N7 million, but she had neither money to undertake the procedure, nor relatives to support her.
Narrating her ordeal, Emegwaribe said she finally brought the daughter home after several years of moving her from one hospital and local medicine practitioner to another, and exhausting her fortune without any improvement.
“My daughter developed severe sight problems which made her partially lost her vision, and suffers repeated seizures.
"The more I spend money carrying her to various places, the more her condition deteriorates. To worsen the matter, the father had since abandoned us,” she lamented.
Describing the benefactor's intervention as divine, Emegwaribe said the support would enable her child start medical process to reclaim her life, expressing hope that she would once again bounce back to life.
She further appreciated the club for their dedication to plight of the poor and the distressed, praying God to bless them beyond their imaginations, just as she
Earlier, Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs Ify Obinabo recalled the distressing situation she met the child and her mother, which necessitated her sourcing for support for her.
She said the club, through the gesture has not only saved a life, but also given hope to the downtrodden that God still answers prayers.
She said, "When the mother of the child met me, and said she believes I could help her, I was at a loss as to how. But when I reached out to the Great Ifedinma Friends Club and they obliged, I knew that what God cannot do does not exist.
“For the Club to commit to undertake the N10 million surgery is indeed a major breakthrough in the process of getting the young child’s life back, and I want to sincerely appreciate them for this.
“I also want to commend the Gender Based Violence and Peace Organization, GBV&P, for the work they did in sourcing help for the victim."
Announcing the donation, President of the Great Ifedinma Friends Club, Prince Uche Oduche, said they would be making initial payment of the first tranche of N5 million to enable the victim proceed to hospital and commence treatment, while the balance would follow later.
Oduche noted that the gesture was in keeping with the message of love as exemplified by St Valentine, adding that the donation was one of the numerous ways the club has been giving back to the society.
“This is what the Great Ifedinma Friends Club is known for. We believe in love and charity. When we heard about the plight of this child through the Commissioner, we were moved to pity and immediately decided to step in.
Chairman of the Charity Committee of the club, Chief IKC Chukwuma said the donation was expression of gratitude to God for his mercies to members, assuring that they would continue to follow through the entire procedure to ensure its success.
On his part, Programme Manager of Gender Based Violence and Peace Organization, Ubaka Onwuanibe, described the support as timely and urged more support for the suffering child and her family from other public-spirited individuals.
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