"Madam, your daughter will need a hip-replacement surgery if she is to walk again" the bespectacled doctor announced
For the first time in my life I saw my mother cry,and it was like my heart was being crushed by a giant stone crusher.
Ever since her husband,my father died, over two decades ago, she has carried on with life, taking whatever it threw at her, with courage,dignity and grace. You would never catch her give in to depression or soak herself in self pity.
If ever anything was bothering her,she never allowed us,her children to know. It was only on rare occasions that we missed our daddy- she played the twin role of a father and a mother so well. Her protective wings were ever around us,like a hen guarding her chicks from hawks.
So to see this strong woman now break down in tears , was too much for me to take.
Sylvia,my younger sister,was born with sickle cells, like every child with this condition, her growing up was characterised by excruciating pains. Some times I stay up at night listening to her groans of pain and I quietly cry along with her.
The above conversation between my mother and the doctor took place sometimes in 2010,but help did not come until 2013, when friends and family came together and started a fund raising program. To the glory of God enough money was realized to take her to India for the surgery, The surgery was a success, today Sylvia is up on her feet;she is a student of theater arts at the University of Jos, Nigeria
I decided to share this story for two reasons;
Advice intending couples to take the issue of genotype compatibility with all seriousness. Trust me, those groans of pain from a child with sickle cells is nothing you want to experience. Know your Genotype!
And to tell those in difficult situations that What ever your situation,just hang in there, God has not forgotten you.!
Sylvia
During one of her physiotherapy session after the surgery.
