Help! Father seeks N6.8m for three-month-old son’s surgery

Mr Isaac Abba, the father of a three-month-old boy, Gabriel, has appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to help raise funds for his son suffering from ventricular septic defect, also known as ‘hole in the heart.’

Abba, in an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday, said Gabriel was born through a caesarean session on November 12, 2022.

The baby, however, started running temperature eight days after his birth, leading to the discovery of his condition.

Abba said, “We decided to take him back to the hospital when he started running temperature. The doctor administered some drugs to him and asked us to go back. But he continued to develop high temperature, so we took him back to the hospital. From there the heart was beating faster, then they asked us to go for an x-ray and the result turned out to be pneumonia.

“After he was discharged, he developed the same temperature and his system became very bad. We rushed him to Gbagada from where they later referred us to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. He was placed on oxygen and we were asked to carry out an echocardiogram and the result indicated that he has a hole in his heart. The measure was 9 millimetres and it was said that such a hole does not get filled by itself.”

Abba said the hospital he was referred to for surgery gave him an estimated bill of N6.8m.

He said, “The doctor gave me two weeks to come for the surgery and that if it exceeds the two weeks, the cost would increase by 15 per cent. Since then, I have not gone back to them since I do not have the money.

According to the estimated bill dated January 13, 2023, sighted by our correspondent, the hospital gave the breakdown of the bill as full evaluation –N175,000; pulmonary CT scan –N130,000; and ventricular septic defect surgery –N6.5m

Donations for Gabriel’s treatment can be sent to his dad’s First Bank account, 2031578026 with the name Abba Isaac Elaigwu. Punch