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Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
For pretty Miss Vivian Ijezie, from Isu-Ekpe Okorokoma in Nwangele Local Government Area of Imo State, it seems the whole world has come to an end.
After rising to fame, she has for quite some time been expressing some health complications, including kidney failure.
An old student of Owerri Girls Secondary School, Imo State, she’s at the moment studying Estate Management at the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri. In 2016, she won the Miss Owerri West tourism beauty pageantry.
The 25-year-old student is appealing to Nigerians to come to her aid to enable her actualize her dream of conquering the world like Agbani Darego.
She also appealed to the Federal Government, Imo State government and notable philanthropists in Nigeria to assist her with funds.
The lady spoke to the reporter on her hospital bed at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri. The doctor managing her ailment said Vivian could still live if she could come up with N8million.
Unfortunately, Vivian and her mother, Benedeth, a petty food vendor in Owerri, cannot afford the required amount. The reporter learnt that she had been on weekly dialysis session at the cost of N150, 000 since February 19, 2020, when she was admitted to the hospital. The money, which comes in trickles from some good-spirited individuals, can only manage sponsor her dialysis only twice a month.
Her mother, it was gathered, had been taking care of Vivian and her siblings – a girl and two boys since husband, Christopher, died 20 years ago.
Vivian’s elder brother, Chinedu, who narrated how the sister’s ailment began, said: “It was around early January this year when the whole thing started like a fever. She was treated and we thought all was well with her until she started complaining of stomach ache. That was also treated until January 11, when she started complaining of body weakness again.
“We took her to so many hospitals. At first, she was treated for ulcer, then cold. She was later taken to FMC on February 19, where she was formerly diagnosed with kidney failure and that she required a transplant urgently.”
The young lady and her poor family could do little or nothing before her colleagues in the Association of beauty queens and kings, as well as the old students of Owerri Girls Secondary School (2013 set) with their Federal Polytechnic, Owerri counterparts took to the street on June 30, in a solidarity march to raise awareness about her condition.
The 2018 Miss Imo, Joy Olebu, who coordinated the solidarity march, said they needed to raise awareness for their friend and colleague.
“We, the Executive Committee members of the Association of Beauty Queens and Kings, Imo State Chapter, are creating this awareness to solicit support from not just the indigenes of Imo State but the nation at large, on the desperate call for help for Miss Vivian Ijezie who is in urgent need of a kidney transplant.
“She is currently admitted at the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo State Nigeria where she spends N150,000 every week for dialysis.
“We beg the state governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, our former governor and other well-meaning citizens of the state to help save a life and God will bless you,” she said.
Individuals or organisations willing to assist could reach the family via 07036334467. Financial help could be sent to her account, Ijezie Vivian C at Fidelity Bank. The account number is 6171715744.
