Spinal cord injury patient seeks N3m help for surgery

Ini Billie, Uyo

A spinal cord injury patient, 38-year-old Elizabeth Udofia, has asked Nigerians for financial assistance of N3 million to undergo surgery.

Udofia, a 2010 graduate of Accounting from the University of Calabar, Cross River State told our correspondent on Tuesday in Uyo that she sustained the injury in an auto crash on October, 2010 while traveling in a commercial bus, Agofure Motors, from Warri to Asaba in Delta State.

According to her, though she and other passengers involved in the accident were rushed to Ozora General Hospital in Delta, where she was treated after being admitted in the hospital for seven days and then discharged, she never recovered from the injuries as she was involved in other accidents that aggravated her condition.

Udofia, an applicant from Ikot Oku Nsit in Nsit Ibom local government area, Akwa Ibom State, added she has spent all she had on treating herself but without getting better as the pains resurfaced and become severe.

She noted that she resorted to the media for help as efforts to get the Akwa Ibom State Government during the administration of Governor Godswill Akpabio to support her treatment did not yield any result.

“After the first accident, I have been involved in about five other accidents which has aggravated my condition, hence my resort to seeking help from the public to help me undergo operations so I can be well again, and be useful to herself and the society,” she said.

A copy of the medical report from Ibom Specialist Hospital dated April 12, 2021, and titled, Re: Elizabeth James Udofia/39 years/ISH No: 163798 was signed by the consultant neurosurgeon, Dr Ubong Ekpene.

It read, “the above-named patient is being scheduled for neurosurgery involving the spine on account of a recurrent low back pain that started 11 years ago after a road traffic accident. Pain radiates to the dorsum of both feet.

“Her examination findings revealed tenderness along the lumbar spine and significant impairment in her gait. The proposed surgery is estimated to cost three million naira only (3,000,000). Kindly render to her the needed assistance.”

Elizabeth can be contacted with the phone number – 08032476923.