BENIN CITY – Reprieve seems to come the way of a blind sickle cell patient, Uyiosa Efinonayi, as a Benin-based socio-cultural organization, Benin Indigenous People Assembly, has donated N300,000 for his medical treatment.

 The 31-year-old, indigent patient who was recently diagnosed of Avascular Necrosis, needs N5 million to undergo hip replacement surgery at Cedar Crest Hospital, Abuja. Speaking with newsmen after receiving a cheque for N300,000 from his benefactors, Uyiosa said he started suffering from the ailment in June 2018.

 The 2014, Theatre and Performing Arts graduate of the University of Benin, who hailed from Isi, Orhionmwon local government area of Edo state, said the surgery was to correct the dead bones around his hip joints.

 A native of  works as a communication officer for Edo Information for Development Project as a contract staff.

 He commended BIPA for the gesture, even as he appealed to the state government and other well meaning Nigerians to come to his aid.

 Earlier while presenting the cheque, Solomon Arase, a former Inspector-General of Police and a patron of the organization, described Uyiosa’s condition as pathetic.

 Arase said the N300,000 donation was to ginger other well-meaning Nigerians, particularly the Edo people and the state government, to contribute to the medical well-being of the patient.

 “The purpose of this event is to attract other people to contribute to the project. We are going to continue and going to appeal to other public spirited individual to please assist this young man. We really want to assist him, and his situation is very pathetically and we think he needs help.

 “Apart from the little contribution, we want to be able to escalate the issue in the public domain especially the state government and other spirited people. That is just the concern we have and we believe that this young man should not be left to suffer.  He needs assistance and that is exactly what our group is trying to do,” Arase said.

 On his part, the General Secretary of BIPA, Orobosa Omo-Ojo, said the organization heard about his plight and felt, as a socio-cultural organization geared towards promoting the well-being of the Benin people, decided to extend its kind of gesture to him.

 Omo-Ojo however appealed to well meaning Edo people and Nigerians, governments and corporate organizations to contribute towards saving his life.

 Also speaking, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, who commended the initiative of the group, said it will ignite more initiatives towards supporting the patient.

 Enabulele, who was recently appointed into a committee of the World Medical Association noted that his condition is not a hopeless one as several technologies are available to carry out the surgery.

 While noting that Avascular Necrosis is not new in the annal of medicine, he said what is only required is the necessary financial resources to carry out the surgery.

 “I thank BIPA members for this brilliant idea and to say that as they are also looking forward to securing more resources for him we are hopeful that other citizens in the state and indeed the state government will come to his aid.

 “Avascular Necrosis is not knew in terms of conditions in the annals of medicine especially today when you have several technologies available. He has told us that he already has a hospital in Abuja, which is Cedar Crest Hospital. The hospital is very renowned for hip replacement surgery and of course attention to care for condition such as this.