“Being challenged in life is inevitable, but being defeated is optional.” – Roger Crawford
For Stephen Nwokeukwu, a 38-year-old graduate of Marketing from the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, life at present is one huge challenge.
He is stuck in a wheelchair and has been so for the past nine years.
Though Stephen’s body is debilitated, his mind has remained sharp and his faith, through his travails has also remained unshakeable that one day, he will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Prior to 2010, Stephen was a happy- go-lucky young man with so much to look forward to in life.
A 2009 graduate of Marketing, Stephen did his mandatory National Youth Service in Kano. On completing his service, he moved to Kaduna with the help of a friend he hoped would get a bank job for him.
After waiting for two months with nothing happening, Stephen decided to return to his home town, Akabo in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State. Besides, he had an interview with the Nigerian Navy in Aba, Abia State.
But sadly, he didn’t make it to his home till two years later and, of course, the interview in Aba also never came to pass.
In fact, Stephen is lucky to be alive, if his circumstances can be attributed to luck.
On the faithful day, June 20, 2010, he set off on the journey from Kaduna with high hopes, but a fatal accident arrested the journey and his plans for the future.
According to Emmanuel, a younger brother to Stephen, who narrated part of the story to the NEXT EDITION, as the accident had also left Stephen with some speech impediment. “The accident happened on June 20, 2010, when he was coming back from Youth Service. It happened close to Enugu state. The first hospital he was taken to was Mother of Christ, Hospital, Enugu, where he spent a month and one week before the doctors there referred him to University Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Enugu.
“UNTH was on strike at the time the accident happened. But the doctor attending to him at Mother of Christ, was also working at UNTH.
“We stayed at UNTH for two years before he was discharged. After his discharge, we spent some extra months in the hospital because the bill was so much and our parents could not afford to offset it.
“However, God sent us help through an Anglican Bishop in Enugu, whose name I cannot recollect. He was the one who paid the bill.”
According to Emmanuel, Stephen was discharged in 2012, after two years in the hospital, not because he had recovered, but because he was not recovering and the doctors had reached a conclusion that nothing more could be done for him medically.
They were, therefore, advised to take him home to explore ‘other options.’
Stephen chipped in to fill some blanks. He said: “I was returning from Kaduna two months after my Youth Service. We were travelling in a 15-seater bus operated by the Kaduna State Transport Service.
“I was the only person who survived the accident. Later, I was told that I had been dumped with the dead until somebody noticed that I was still breathing, though not moving and I was rushed to the hospital.”
According to Emmanuel, who along with their mother cared for Stephen throughout his stay in the hospital, when the doctors at UNTH discharged them, he became Stephen’s main caregiver especially, physiotherapist.
“His body had become stiff and he had terrible bed sores so the nurses advised us to try exercising his hands and legs and turning him on the bed once in a while.
“They also told us to be talking to him, that the sound of our voices may help him to regain consciousness.
“One day, as I tried to straighten his hand, he cried out in pain and the nurses told us to continue, that he may be coming out of the coma.
“In fact, up to this point, he was being fed through a tube. But when he began to react to pain, I told my mother that we should try putting water in his mouth to see what will happen.”
Emmanuel disclosed that it was not easy convincing his mother to try out his Idea but eventually, when they put water in his mouth, Stephen swallowed it and from there, they removed the tube with the assistance of nurses and began feeding him with pap.
He added: “We also bought two small battery radios and I would turn both of them on at the same time, one on each side, close to his ears. One day, he just opened his eyes.”
According to Emmanuel, they were able to eventually leave the hospital with the help of an Anglican Bishop who took care of their bills.
He also told The NEXT EDITION that the Kaduna Transport Company gave them the sum of N5, 000 as compensation for the accident.
In the recent chat with the NEXT EDITION, Stephen said though he has not given up hope, life has been unbearable.
According to him, “life has been one painful experience,” literally speaking.
Presently, he has difficulty urinating. He told NEXT EDITION, “it is so painful for me to urinate. Most times I break into tears while urinating as a result of the pain.”
Unfortunately, the family cannot afford the money for proper diagnosis of what he is suffering from and even if they did, he said the family cannot afford the cost of treatment no matter how cheap.
He said: “Through all the experiences, God has kept me. If not Him, I could have been a dead man long before now. Even till tomorrow, I believe that God can change my situation.
“What I need now is help to further my treatment especially in dealing with the problem of urinating. I am appealing to kind-hearted individuals and organisations to come to my aid. My family cannot afford for me to even have the necessary regular check ups. We cannot even afford the routine drugs that can help to ease the pains that come with urinating.
“The family has really spent so much as a result of my condition. Nothing is left to spend.”
To compound the problems of the Nwokeukwu’s, their father was struck with stroke early this year.
This, Stephen believes is as a result of his health situation and the stress it has brought on the family.
Stephen is also worried that the physiological and physical trauma of caring for him and his father is also taking a huge toll on his mother.
He, therefore, makes a passionate appeal to public spirited Nigerians.
“My major concern is to have the urinating problem solved. My brain is not damaged in any way so even if I don’t walk again, from the wheel chair, I know I can still do something to earn a living.
“People have been kind in contributing to my upkeep since the accident, but I make this last appeal to well meaning Nigerians to assist me deal with this last problem,” he pleaded.
Stephen is the third son out of six boys. Born in 1981.
Below is the account details through which Stephen could be helped:
Account Name: Kingsley Nwokeukwu
Account No: 3081550059
Bank: First Bank
The Next Edition may also be contacted for further inquiries.