Girl with Lower Limb Deformities Seeks N.5m Support

• …Thanks donors, media so far

Miss Blessing Maria Ijachi, the 17-year-old girl with severe bowing of both limbs, whose story we first published on these pages on July 4, 2019 as seeking N2.5 million for the correction of the arising lower limb deformities at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, has thanked all those who have so far made contributions to the fund.

The Benue State-born young girl, who had experienced 12 years of unabating harsh pains from severe bowing of both limbs and dropped out of school in the Senior Secondary School (SSS) 1 in 2016, said she has so far received about N2 million from good spirited Nigerians after her appeals in the media for help.

Thanking all those who made the donations, she however appealed for an additional N500, 000 to make up the balance of the surgery bill and post-surgery treatment.

Restating her appeal for more donations into her GT Bank Account No. 0468466784 in the name of John Blessing Maria, she said she has been confirmed for surgery second week of August and would remain in the hospital after the operation for four weeks.

She appealed as well for prayers to see her through successfully, explaining that she started having problems with her legs from the age of two and half years and was taken to the General Hospital, Ikeja, from where she was referred to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos.

“Igbobi prescribed a surgery for me at that age, my dad was required to donate blood for me for the operation but he was sick at the time and he died. We couldn’t raise the money after my dad’s death, so, it was impossible for us to go back to Igbobi for the operation,” she recalled.

But even with the pains, Ijachi managed to go through elementary school and then her Junior Secondary School (JSS) at the Ikeja Junior Secondary School, Oshodi, Lagos.

But the pains and level of deformity worsened as she grew older and it eventually became impossible for her to walk to school daily, sit all through in the class and walk back home.

Described by her teachers as exceptionally brilliant, Ijachi painfully dropped out of school but she remains committed to returning to school once she is through with the surgery and certified okay.

The hope-raising medical report signed by Dr. Izuagba EmekaB., Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Padiatric Orthopaedics and Limb Reconstruction Unit, NOHIL, dated March 26, 2019 said “She requires a surgical treatment of gradual correction of lower limb deformities using Ring Fixator/Taylor Spatial Frame due to the grotesque nature of the deformities”.