by Chinwe Okafor

Ernest is a young 19-year-old who is going through one of the toughest oddities of life.

He has the trio of sickle cell anaemia, sickle cell nephropathy and at 13 was diagnosed with stage 5 chronic kidney disease.  In addition to this,  he suffers from avascular necrosis, generalised tonic clonic seizures and Todd’s hemiparesis – all complications from long-term treatment of renal failure.

The great thing about life is to keep going and not deter. For Ernest, he wasn’t going to let his predicament dictate how he should live his life. His positive attitude to life is so vibrant it’s hard to believe he is going through a difficult phase.

He dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur who will make an impact in his world. Ernest is full of life and enthusiasm for the future. And even though this may be on his lists of things to do in life before he dies, you can make this happen for him and even better, prolong his stay on earth.

Let’s tell you how.

£40,110 was raised in 2013 for his surgery in India. He left Lagos for India with excitement for the surgery in January 2014. However, he started having various complications which had to be treated; this meant that his transplant had to be postponed.

According to the father, Ernest has been in India since January 2014 (in and out of hospital) for the treatment of the complications prior to his surgery, “His doctors have now given him the all clear for surgery and there are hopes to raise £27,000 to complete the payment for the surgery and his after surgery care in India for 6 months. £5,000 pounds to date has been raised– taking into account the donations made to the accounts in Nigeria (thanks to everyone who has been generous),” he said.

The farther pleaded with Nigerians to donate to the resuscitation of him, “The funds hoped to raise from this campaign will give Ernest the opportunity for a healthy future. There isn’t any form of joy more profound than the news that Ernest’s cousin has offered to donate his kidney and God willing, the surgery will be successful.”

Here is a breakdown of the expenses so far in the course of his treatment:

Cost of Visa fees for Ernest and his team: £214.93

Cost of preparing transplant documents: £67.16

Cost of air tickets: £3,025.32

Cost of medical tests in India: £167.91

Cost of admission (7 times) in the hospital: £10,074.88

Cost of appendectomy operation: £503.74

Cost of dialysis (3 days x 4 weeks x 15 months x £83.95):  £15,111

Cost of medical treatment for different illnesses arising: £13,433.17

Cost of house rent( $500 x15): £5,037.44

Cost of feeding for him and his team: £335.83

We are grateful for the time taken to read this narrative and thank you in advance with helping Ernest in his journey to a healthy life.

I will update the campaign with progress on Ernest surgery.

Donations can also be made to the following account numbers in Lagos, Nigeria:

Account name: Joyner Ifeyinwa Eke

Bank: Guaranty Trust Bank

Account number: 0127035711

OR

Account name: Eke Ernest

Account number: 0139187549

Bank : Guaranty Trust Bank.