Breast cancer surgery fallout: Husband abandons wife in hospital over bill

ONITSHA—A mother of seven, Mrs Uzoamaka Onu, 39, has been abandoned by her husband at the New Mayor Hospital and Fertility Centre, Nkpor, Anambra State, over N520,000 hospital bill.

The woman, Vanguard gathered, had stayed in the hospital for four months because of the non- payment of the bill. Uzoamaka, a food vendor, who hails from Okpoto community, Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, told Vanguard that the husband had absconded and abandoned her to her fate. According to her, “my husband stopped visiting the hospital after I successfully underwent a surgery on my right breast and all attempts to reach him have proved abortive.” However, Uzomaka said she did not blame her husband for absconding, because he had suffered a lot since 2013 when signs of cancer started manifesting. She said: “My husband sells rat poison, and cannot afford the money to pay the balance. I think that was why he ran away. I am appealing to good spirited Nigerians to come to my aid and help me to get back home. “My problem started in 2013 when I started experiencing excruciating pain in my body, specifically in my lungs. I started visiting patent medicine stores for solution, but unfortunately that compounded my problems. “It was on the advice of some friends and family members that I decided to visit General Hospital, Abakaliki, where I was diagnosed of breast cancer.” The surgery Uzoamaka said that she had visited the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Enugu, and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, for solutions. According to her, she then went to the New Mayor Hospital and Fertility Centre, where she had a successful surgery, leading to outright removal of her right breast. She said N750,000 was the total cost of the surgery and that her family paid N230,000. The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Ben Ossai, confirmed the incident, describing Uzoamaka’s case as pathetic. He said that the woman’s right breast was in a deteriorating state, and was emitting offensive odour due to the devastation the ailment had caused. “We decided to perform a surgery on her to remove the affected breast,” he said. Ossai said Uzoamaka underwent a successful surgery and had long been discharged, pending when her family upsets the balance of her medical bill. “But for four months now, her husband has not visited, and we suspected he has absconded,” he said.