GHc 25,000.00 may be chicken change for someone but for the family of 16-year-old Genevieve, that amount, if not raised in 9 days will dash every hope of bringing the once vibrant young teenager back to life.
On a normal day in September last year, Genevieve returned from school and complained of a headache.
Due to the prevalence of self-medication in Ghana, only a few people will take a ‘normal’ headache to the doctor and her Mother, Abigail Sey, was no exception.
The 37-year-old mother-of-four who has single-handedly taken care of her kids after the death of their father told ABC News in an interview that her only hope was to resort to prayer camps as she had no money to take care of Genevieve.
“We were there one day and she said she had a headache. We did all we could. I took her to may prayer camps because I knew apart from God no one will heal her and wherever we went, they kept telling different stories, from witches in my family to witches in her school. Later we took her to Atomic hospital,” she said.
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At the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission Hospital, the reality of what was to come hit the mother of the now diagnosed brain tumor child, Genevieve.
The journey to save the life of Genevieve then began at the Korle Bu teaching hospital.
After Going through the first treatment at the hospital, Abigail and her daughter now need to raise an extra amount of GHC 25,000 as every hospital they have visited is refusing to treat her without the full amount in hand.
Raising this amount for a single mother with four children who earns an average daily wage of about GHC 10 is not the easiest of tasks.
But Abigail Sey is determined to find alternative ways of raising the necessary funds to save the life of the daughter whom many had described as the star of the family.
Genevieve’s only wish is to return to her old self – the once bubbly, studious girl whose only dream was to become a nurse and save the lives of patients.
Now though, her life needs saving as doctors say failure on the part of her family to raise the needed GHC 25,000 for a brain tumor surgery by June 25, 2020 will mean a possible end to the dream of becoming a nurse.
“I went to school and came back with a terrible headache. I told my mum and she said it will go but every time I went to bed, I cried…I want to see again and walk again, every time I pray I tell God to make me see and walk again,” were the words Genevieve struggled to string together when ABC News visited her at Dome in Accra, Ghana.
She, together with her mother and three other siblings live in the kitchen of a compound house, a space offered to them temporarily by the landlord of the facility.
Without the needed help, Genevieve and her family may not see a brighter tomorrow.