A resident of Ondo State, Tope Ajayi, has cried over the deteriorating health of his son, Femi, who is currently suffering from a facial tumor.
The 12-year-old boy has battled pain and swelling for more than three years and has yet to start his secondary education due to the ailment.
Tope, who resides in Ikare in the Akoko area of Ondo state, revealed that Femi started developing eye pain when she was nine years old.
In a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Monday, the sad father said: “He has been fighting the disease for three years. He started at the end of 2019. He started as a pimple on his face near his eye and it always hurt. So my wife put pressure on it and before we knew it, she started to swell up.
“Before the swelling started, we always pressed on the boil because we thought it was a pimple and a water-like substance always came out. Little by little, he began to swell. Then they told us they were going to operate on him.”
According to Tope, the family had tried to manage the situation by getting painkillers and trying herbal medicines, but unfortunately, none of these could offer a solution to the worsening situation.
Tope said: “We receive medicines from pharmacies to relieve pain. Then one of my father’s friends brought a sheet that we were supposed to put on the swelling, but every time we did it, he would make our son cry in pain. So that was not the solution.”
The family eventually took Femi to Mount Zion Hospital, Ikare, where she was diagnosed with a tumor and charged 500,000 for the surgery, to get her back to living a normal life.
According to Tope, the family was unable to raise the money and pleaded with the general public to help the family raise funds for the operation.
Contributions can be made to the following account:
Account number: 2119756263
Account name: Ajayi Tunji Sunday
Bank: United Bank for Africa (UBA)
Mr Tope can also be contacted on 09127259499