At conception, the family waited eagerly with joy for the full cycle to run.
But from the day he was born 15 months ago, his parents and little Usman, have not slept with their two eyes closed, no thanks to chronic pains caused by a gaping hole in his heart.
Usman’s mother first noticed this when he started breathing with difficulty and like somebody, who had just concluded a 100-metre race.
From that moment, Usman hardly ate and even spurned nourishment, including the mother’s breast. This threatened his health, physical and organic growth.
Usman’s father, Mohammed Eggan, a farmer from Katcha in Niger State, rushed him to Taimako Hospital, Minna, where doctors treated him for pneumonia, cough and malaria, but there was no improvement. His breath was failing and worst still, he refused to suckle.
Then began the exhausting and expensive shuttle from one hospital ward to another for the poor parents.
After a five-month history of congestive cardiac failure and pain, little Usman was taken to the General Hospital, Minna, where he was diagnosed with recurrent pneumonia on a background congenital heart disease. Further examination showed that the boy had a large ventricular septal defect (VSD), with left to right blood flow. Strange. The left-sided cardiac chambers were also observed to be bigger than the right-sided cardiac chambers.
For proper management, little Usman was referred to Federal Medical Centre, Bida, which recommended further medical investigation at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, which concurred with previous test results. Usman has a large ventricular septal defect, with left to right shunt.
Medical experts at FMC, Bida, recommended open heart surgery, which many feared, is a medical impossibility in Nigeria. And for the poor parents, this is a mirage.
Most Nigerians go to India for open heart surgery. After a discussion with their Nigerian counterparts and an examination of medical reports, Naranaya Wurdiya Clinic, Banglor, India, reputed for open heart surgeries, accepted to perform the operation at the cost of N3,971,000. According to estimates sent by Dr. Kiran, senior consultant (paediatrics) in the hospital, the money would be used to correct the congenital abnormality.
This money also covers cost for evaluation, cath, operation, accommodation, and logistics.?
His parents, who spoke in Minna, appealed to well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to help them give Usman the chance to live.
They can be reached on the following numbers for details: 08055961356, 08157056184, 08038191497.
Malam Suleiman Abdullahi, a deputy editor with LEADERSHIP Newspapers, Abuja can also be contacted for necessary information while donations could be sent to Zenith Bank account number: 1002472495 or GT Bank account number: 0027752554.