• Dad thanks Nigerians, says 12-year-old on $200 monthly drugs needs more help
In 2007, Master David Opara was five years old. But he was still wearing diapers. His parents, Pastor Alban and Mrs. Goodness Opara, were distraught at such a strange development happening at a time their son’s mates had long forgotten how it felt wearing such stuff. Each time the kid did not wear his diapers, his urine would be dropping on his pants in trickles for no other reason than that he had a blockage of the urinary track.
Therefore, because of David’s natural deformity, he had enormous difficulty passing out urine. His nature-imposed plight piled tremendous pressure on his kidneys, rendering them incapable of functioning as they should. Passing urine, for him, became a tug of war. Excess urine, which he should have passed out many days before, was held back in his system because it had nowhere to go. Only a little portion of it found its way through his urinary track, dripping embarrassingly as he went unless he wore his diapers. This development cast the little boy’s parents in a lake of sadness and left him in dear need of urgent kidney transplant.
But today, Master David, now 12, and his parents are a lot happier as they have a different story to tell. David, a Junior Secondary School (JSS) 2 student of Tonia International College, Coker, Lagos, has long bounced back to life and doing well; he is leading a normal, active life after undergoing a kidney transplant in an Indian hospital in 2010.
Living with a kidney donated to him by his mother, David eventually conquered the towering Goliath which threatened to claim his life. Now, all the impediments that hitherto held him down have been rolled away. So, he does virtually every other thing his mates do. He plays football like the rest of his peers; he is even a die-hard fan of Real Madrid.
Recently, the reporter traced him to Assemblies of God Church, Ikate, Lagos where he was undergoing a Christian summer programme with his mates. The boy who came to the event with his father radiated joy and gratitude. His mien was that of “Miracle Child of the Decade.”
“I’m fine and doing very well,” he said, flashing a smile. “I recently finished my promotional examination to JSS 2. The name of my school is Tonia International College, Coker. We are on holidays now so I came here with my dad for a religious programme.”
Asked whether he still wore his diapers after the surgery he underwent in India, he smiled shyly and said no, noting that he no longer felt the way he always felt before he went for the transplant.
“I feel okay now,” he said. “I do every other thing my mates do. I play football, though not always. I’m a Real Madrid fan and my best food is chips and chicken. I hope to be a engineer in future.” he announced gleefully.
The story of David is that of a little boy who chose life and rejected death. At five years of age when he was diagnosed at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) to have a blocked urinary track from birth, he was already at the brink. But through the support of good-spirited Nigerians, money was raised for his surgery at Forties Hospital in New Delhi, India. That was in 2010. Now he is hail and hearty. But he is said to be on monthly drugs which costs about $200 and requires to undergo medical check up from time to time in a specialist hospita, even as the Indian hospital still wants him to come back.
Recalling how it all began for his son, Pastor Opara, (a former journalist whose last station before he veered into the Lords vineyard was at Daily Sun) said David’s case was one that left the family a tall mountain to climb.
“At five, he wasn’t able to pass urine normally, he began. “Each time he dressed up, and did not wear his pampers, urine would be seen dropping on his pants. Then we used to taunt him. Progressively his case became worse. So in 2007, we were forced to take him to Randle General Hospital in Surulere, Lagos for tests. There, they didn’t tell us he had a kidney-related problem. It was at LUTH that we were told he had kidney problem and had to undergo regular dialysis and then surgery.
“Part of the challenge he then had was that he was vomiting, and had lost appetite and much blood. Every now and then, he needed blood transfusion and we were donating blood regularly to sustain him. We were buying blood too to augment what we were giving him. Then every little money that came our way was spent on providing him with dialysis services and blood purchase.
“Months after weaving in and out of hospital, in July 2010, we were invited to a meeting at LUTH where we were told that David’s situation needed kidney transplant. We were frightened when we were told that we required to raise money for the exercise so he would not die.
“Quickly, we swung into action. My friends in the media came to our rescue. My organisation – The Sun Publishing Ltd, my church, Assemblies of God, Ikate, various individuals and governmental organisations raised the money for my wife and I to travel with David, believing that I was the one who was going to lend him a kidney. But at last, it was my wife who did. We went to India in October 2010 and returned in January 2011.
“The doctors who managed him there recommended that he should be undergoing regular medical check up at LUTH, at least once every two months so that the experts there would know how he was faring. Each time we take him for test, his samples are collected and sent to South Africa for analysis. Each of such tests costs N25, 000. As I speak to you, he is on a live drug whose month-long dose costs $200.
“So far, his doctors at LUTH have done wonderfully well. Some of them personally call to find out how he is doing if we fail to make regular visits. Even some members of the public who have followed David’s case often call to know how he is faring. Indeed, we are eternally grateful for this gesture.
“The lad, as you can see, is doing well, but each time he faces challenges such as vomiting and malaria, we easily get frightened.
“The doctors at the Indian hospital where he was treated also recommended that he should avoid getting infected. This compels him sometimes to wear protective gear over his nose. At home, he has a special water dispenser because he does not drink just any type of water every one of us drinks. We were asked to return to the same hospital after a while for them to investigate him by themselves but we cannot do so now because the money is not there. But if we get the required support from anywhere, we will be glad to take him back to India again.”
No minding the challenges the boy still faces facing at the moment, his father strongly believes that David’s life is that of a child determined to live, while urging the general public not to be tired of helping his son lead a normal healthy life.
Support for David can be sent to UBA Plc Account No 1001332228 in favour of Alban Opara. The boy’s dad may be reached on 2348063205177.
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