N600,000 needed for our child’s operation, yet we have no food to eat – Father of sick girl cries out

Worried family members of a 10-year-old girl, Chimuanya Odom, who cannot sit, stand or walk because she has torticollis, is asking good-hearted Nigerians to come to their aid as she requires an operation on her neck.

Torticollis is a rare condition in which the neck muscles contract, causing the head to twist to one side.

Chimuanya’s father, Innocent Odom, and her aunt, Mrs Chizobam Onwuegbu, told Saturday PUNCH that Chimuanya had been suffering from the condition for two years and that N600,000 was required for the operation that would correct the problem.

Odom, who hails from Akwarazu community in the Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, said the family had spent all their savings on the condition already. The family said that it was difficult for them to feed let alone afford the cost of the operation.

“We have visited several hospitals seeking solutions to the girl’s problem, but to no avail.

“It was at the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri that we were told that she was suffering from Torticollis.

“We were told that if we provide the funds, the operation would be done here in Nigeria and our daughter will be well again. The amount required is N600,000, but we hardly have food to eat, so we don’t know how we can get that amount of money.

“Because of this ailment, my wife (her mother) abandoned her (Chimuanya) and ran away. It is my elder sister – Mrs Chizobam Onwuegbu – who is taking care of her,” Odom said.

The visibly helpless 55-year-old Odom added that his daughter’s condition was gradually deteriorating.

He said, “I want good-hearted Nigerians to come to my aid before my daughter dies. She was not born like this. She was already in school when the ailment manifested. At the beginning, we thought it was a spiritual problem but when experts at FMC Owerri told us that the disease could be treated, we were happy. However, when the amount was mentioned, we became helpless.

“She is a very brilliant child but this ailment wants to ruin her life and future. She is in pain. She can’t sit, she can’t stand and she can’t walk .This ailment is beyond her age. I want Nigerians to help me to save her life before she dies. The amount is N600,000. Please Nigerians, help me save my child; I don’t want her to die.”

Account details:

Bank: Ecobank

Account name: Ogaoka Michael

Account number: 5433075273.

The family can also be reached on the following phone numbers: 08108726256, 08063506375 and 07035912851.