After six years of pain and expensive four-week treatment in Indian hospital, 11-year-old girl with heart disease passes on
The story of 11-year-old Mary Opeyemi Adekunle, a Junior Secondary School class one stu­dent of Glass House Secondary School, Mile 12, Lagos, is pathetic.
The young girl, who lived with her parents and siblings on 17, Olagunju Aina Street, Agiliti, Mile 12, was diagnosed of a heart disease about six years ago. After several years of agonising search for help, a kind-hearted Indian woman single-handedly sponsored her treatment in Nanyara Hospital, Bombay, India.
The reporter was told that over N4 million was spent to make her healthy and vivacious as before.  But after two weeks of treatment, Mary passed on in mysterious circumstances at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) Idi-Araba, Lagos.
“We suffered greatly to seek help when Mary was sick. It appeared like our world was crashing. We are both fashion designers and couldn’t even have time to sew clothes for our customers when the predicament began. We spent our time, attending to her, taking her to one hospital or another and from one foundation to the other, seeking financial help,” Mr. Shakiru Adekunle, Mary’s dad, recalled.
In an emotional tone, he added: “She was a very brilliant, peaceful and well-behaved girl. She just gained admission into the Junior Secondary School at the Glass House Secondary School, Mile 12, Lagos, before the ailment struck.”
Adekunle said his daughter’s long nightmare began on a mild note. Hear him: “She had been a very healthy, playful girl until she turned five and the long nightmare began. She used to cough heavily, sweat profusely and breathe unsteadily. We didn’t know what caused that but we were always rushing her to the hospital whenever those symptoms came up. She would cry and ask for help, complaining that she was having pains all over her body.
“That continued for sometime on a regular basis until last year November when we again rushed her to the General hospital in Ikeja and they referred us to the Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LUTH) for a comprehensive medical test.
“The test was conducted at LUTH by Professor C.A.N Okoromah, a consultant paediatrician who came up with a diagnosis of a cardiovascular heart problem as Mary’s medical challenge.
The medical ailment was explained by Dr. Okoromah as: “An affliction of Rhematic Heart Disease with severe mitral regurgitation, mitral stenosis and severe pulmonary hypertension with aneurysmal left atrium and left ventricle.” What that means is that Mary had a heart disease that was caused by the damage of two arteries that transported blood from her heart to other parts of her body. She then needed an immediate medical and surgical intervention such as an urgent heart surgery to correct the damages.
To manage the ailment and prolong her life till help would come, Mary was placed on oxygen since November 3, 2013. The hospital charged N5000 on daily basis for providing the oxygen, so said her dad.
“I spent all I had and sold my belongings including the sewing machines that I was using as a tailor. The doctors recommended treatment in an Indian hospital to save her life. Cost of treatment was put at N4million but I didn’t have a dime.”
Adekunle said he made frantic efforts to get help for his daughter. He approached churches, individuals, relatives, neighbours, mosques, non-governmental organisations, (NGOs), media houses and even strangers for help.
Help suddenly came his way about two months ago, following a story published by Daily Sun that sought succour for Mary. The kind-hearted Indian woman offered to take Mary and some other Nigerian patients to India for treatment free of charge.
Adekunle again recalled: “Mary was the first patient attended to at the Naranya Hospital in Bombay, India. In fact, the kind-hearted doctors began attending to her right inside the plane on our way to India.
“But she was the last to be discharged after the surgery. The whole treatment was well carried out as prescribed and she came alive again. She became the lively, energetic and very bright daughter I had known her to be before she turned five. She was playing normally, eating quite well and looking quite healthy. She was also observing all the instructions the doctors gave us for her to fully regain sound health. She had started thanking me for rescuing her from ill-health. She said she was very happy with us and that she appreciated how much we had tried for her. She even prayed for us. Little did we know that a bigger tragedy was lurking around for her.
“Two weeks after her treatment in India, she complained of severe headache and we informed the doctors at LUTH who though, were on strike, promptly began attending to her. We were at the hospital when she came to me, rested her head against my chest and said she just wanted to rest. She again thanked me so much for all the suffering I had gone through for her to get help. She also prayed for me and her mum. I didn’t know she was about to breathe her last.”
Mary, according to her bereaved dad, was the only one that died among the patients that the kind-hearted Indian woman helped.
“The doctors and the Indian woman cried like a baby when she died. The Indian lady loved my daughter a lot that she even offered to bring her up as her own daughter when she fully regained her health. She shared the same date of birth with my daughter. That was the first attraction between them.
“Oh, how could death be this cruel to my daughter? But I accept whatever God offers me. Only God understands why Mary has gone. She simply told me she wanted to rest and I believe she is resting now in the Lord’s bosom. That is why I prevented any medical test offered by doctors to detect what killed her,” Adekunle said sadly.

Tears as little Mary finally dies