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By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
As soon as you set your eyes on Vivian Odunze, a visually-impaired undergraduate, you would be astonished by her appearance. The 200-level Guidance and Counselling student, Faculty of Education, University of Lagos (UNILAG), was not born blind.
She lost her eyesight at age six, in an incident that occurred over two decades ago. Apart from her being beautiful, her elegance. emotional intelligence and charisma are second to none for a physically challenged person.
Also, one would be amazed at her confidence, soft accent, guts, dreams, infectious laughter, warmth and aura that radiate around her. She is from Orsu Local Government, Imo State.
The event that led to the loss of her sight brought a setback in her education. She stayed at home because her parents only had informal education and were not aware they could send her to special needs learning facilities.
Her story: “I stayed at home for years. But one day, my father was returning with his boss from an outing. They saw a visually-impaired lady crossing the road without any assistance; my father was amazed. He asked his boss how the young girl could cross the road alone. His boss educated him about schools meant for visually-impaired people.
“My father informed me about it. I was enrolled into Pacelli School for the Blind. That was how my hope of getting education came alive as a special needs child.
“At age four, I had malaria parasite and it was so severe. My parents took me to El-Shaddai Hospital, Ikotun, Alimosho, Lagos. I was at Okerube/Abaronje Primary School that time.
“I was taken to a medical laboratory for test. They found out that I had malaria. The doctor, after several tests, told my parents to take me to a spiritual home for help, saying that my condition was beyond medicine.
“My father, instead, took me to the hospital used by his company. I was treated with an expired drug, Tigerton, unknown to my parents. Whenever I was given the drug, I would be in severe pain.
“The nurse always removed the drugs from the sachet before injecting me. It was placed in transparent drug polythene. My parents were ignorant about the drug, it was a hospital where they had complete trust in the medical practitioners.
“We didn’t know that the drugs she administered had expired by about four years. She would bring it out of a sachet and put it in another drug bag before administering it on me. My parents didn’t have the slightest idea to check if the drug had expired or not.”
Odunze said each time the drug was administered on her, “I would have episodes of migraine. My muscles and joints would ache badly and this made me scream. It was so pathetic.
“I was very young, I couldn’t really communicate well. But I knew that the reactions happened whenever I took the drug. At first, my parents didn’t notice it; they felt it was the sickness that was making me shout. But after a few days, my mother noticed it and complained to my dad, who said he would inform the doctor.
“The doctor told my parents to continue giving me the drug that it was effective. My parents continued and my condition was deteriorating. They kept following the instructions given to them at the hospital.
“After three months, there were burns all over my body. It was as if I was bathed with acid. My skin was peeling off. I couldn’t see properly.
“Before I became blind, I was still taking the drug, which made my eyes red. I discovered that my vision was blurring. If I looked anywhere, all I would see was red. Later on, it just went blurred.
“I would always complain to my mom that my eyes were dark. I was finding it hard to see. But she didn’t really understand the gravity of what I was passing through. She would only be crying whenever this happened.
“After a few months, I just noticed that I couldn’t see anymore. My vision just went blank. When I told my parents, they went back to the first nurse, who was administering the expired drug on me. They told her what was happening. She stressed that no matter what happened, they (my parents) should not fail to give me the drug.
“At some point, another nurse told my parents to stop the drug. Once they did, I was able to stand but my sight was gone. I was not able to see again. Every part of my body was burnt.
“My father was worried and decided to visit the General Hospital, Isolo. He met Dr. Oluyemi, who attended to my case. After the examination, the diagnoses revealed Steven Johnson Syndrome, a reaction caused by sulphur or expired products.
“This syndrome was what led to my blindness. One of the drugs, we later learnt, was supposed to be for those who had seizures, like people with epilepsy, convulsion and the likes and not for malaria.”
The parents had to engage other professionals. They also sought the help of traditional healers. She was given herbs: “After some months, I felt like I was going to die. I kept telling my parents that I was dying. It felt like I was dead yet alive.”
She said she got a bit better at Isolo General Hospital: “My dad, being naive then, went back to the private hospital and met the nurse and requested for the drug. She said she was travelling to Namibia to meet her husband.
“She instructed another nurse to get two packs of the drugs for my dad. But the staff nurse forgot to unpack the drugs and put them in another nylon bag as her boss usually did. When my dad was going home, he decided to read the pack.
“He discovered that the drugs had expired four years ago. Four whole years! He thought he was hallucinating. When got home he read it again and found out that it had truly expired. He began to cry. He kept saying, ‘so, I have been the one killing my daughter?’
“He went to Isolo General Hospital and showed Dr. Oluyemi the drugs. The whole hospital was thrown into confusion.
“My dad was advised to sue the clinic. On reaching there, the nurse had closed the clinic and dismissed all the staff and fled the country. My dad, however, got the government involved and the place was sealed. I don’t know what happened after that.
“As a child, I didn’t understand the gravity of being blind. I felt it was just a phase, which would pass. It happened too sudden.
I was always sustaining injuries because I would want to do the things I used to do as a fully sighted child, forgetting that I was now blind.
“At a point, it dawned on me that I was now visually impaired. It was so painful for me. I had to take my fate in my hands. My friends never ran away from me. They were children, too, so they didn’t even understand what it meant for one to be blind. We still played as much as we used to.
“My education was really affected. I stopped formal learning for the sighted and embraced Braille letters. It was really difficult for me at the beginning and my transition.
“It took me years before I could start school again after my dad saw a blind girl crossing the road, while with his boss, who advised he should take me to school for the blind. This is how my education journey began as a virtualiy impaired lady.
“That was how I was enrolled into Pacelli School for the Blind, Ikeja, Lagos. I resumed in 2005. Before I got to the school, just for a few days, I could see slightly. My sight was so faint. So, it was still difficult for me to learn how to read Braille.
“In fact, seeing the Braille frustrated me and I was always crying. Before I knew what was happening, I could not see again after I fell from the staircase. Since then, my eyelids just closed and it has remained like that since then. I had to accept the reality that I have become blind.
“Being blind has taught me that life is difficult for visually impaired people. This life is unfair for people with disabilities.
“You will notice a slow pace for these people. It draws one back educationally. When you think about the past, you will realise that your mates have gone far. It brings pain and sharp sorrow in the heart.
“When I got to Pacceli, I had to begin from scratch to learn ABC as a child even though these were things I already knew as a sighted girl. But it is different for people with visual impairment.
“When it comes to gathering, networking and event that I have to attend, I always feel like I am a burden to people around me. When I go out with friends, I keep asking them questions: ‘what is happening? What are they doing? How are they doing it? Are they jumping? Why are they clapping? Why are they laughing? Are they dancing?’
“With the way they answer, you can tell that they feel burdened by your presence. Blindness limits visualisation. Imagine a man taking me to the movies, to do what? It takes the grace of God to meet people who understand you.
“Going to school for visually-impaired persons is very expensive. In a family where you don’t have people who believe that you can make it, they will just tell you to stay at home and eat food. When you mention education, they will say, ‘what will a blind girl want to do with education?’
“So, the challenges are that I need extra help to go to school. I had to go to Ogun State to stay with some of my friends, who are also visually impaired. Together we began to write letters to NGOs for educational grants and scholarships.
“That was how I was able to write the May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). I originally wanted to study Law, but I scored below the cut-off mark and was offered admission to study Guidance and Counseling.
“Now, the challenges are more. We have a lot of things to do with money. When sighted people are buying handouts, we would have to buy and scan them, get them in Braille, get the soft copies in our computer and the likes.
“We also need a recorder and a phone that is Google-enabled. You need a guiding scheme that can navigate your way. Sometimes, for me, food is a problem because all my money is already spent on feeding.
“I want to use this medium to appeal to well meaning Nigerians to come to assist me. I need financial assistance from Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodima, Obi Cubana, Chief Priest Cubana and supportive Nigerians to sponsor my university education to enable me achieve my goals in life.
“Nigerians should come to my aid. My predicament and education is about assisted technology among other necessary things to help fulfill my dreams.
“My father is old and things have changed, it is difficult at the moment. My house rent, and necessary gadgets to complete my education are what I look forward to meeting through Nigerian philanthropists.”
