Yemisi Ilo, a creative consultant and project manager, says
she has been battling Multiple Sclerosis for nearly 10 years
and feels that Zara Gretti's situation shouldn't have
deteriorated to the point of death. She feels ignorance and
not MS killed the singer, who passed away on Friday March
28th about a year after making her illness public. See what
Yemisi (pictured right) wrote below...
I also have MS and I am currently in Singapore - where by
His grace I will finally halt the progression and hopefully
and prayerfully reverse some if not all disability. I spoke
to Zara on Tuesday. She said she was being given 'Agbo' to
drink by her family and that it was killing her. Those were
her exact words. I told her to not drink it. With an already
compromised immune system - Agbo is bullshit. It is poison.
MS is not malaria. I gave Zara clear details of exactly
what she needed to do to try to get well. It isn't easy at all
- I should know but unfortunately for her, she was
surrounded by very ignorant people at the end who felt
that they knew best. I first heard of Zara when I read
about her on Linda Ikeji's blog a year ago. I got in touch
with her immediately and started a Skype friendship. I was
in London and she was in the States (US). We spoke
regularly.
When I went back to Lagos, we would WhatsApp and I would
call her. When she came to Nigeria in October last year, I
went to see her and she was surprised that she could move
better than me! I organized the Battabox interview (which we
did at my parents house). She said she didn't want to live with
her mum in the States - yet she had no one to look after her
there apart from her mum. She needed someone. She even
wanted to come and stay with me, but I am married with small
children and my own MS issues were already enough for one
house.
I am so pissed off, so angry, so fucking sad, teary and
frustrated. If I had been in Nigeria, I would have gone to pick
her up on Tuesday when I spoke to her. She was so desperate
to leave Ogba. She said she had a return ticket to America
and would try to leave ASAP. I gave her my neurologist's
number so she could get some steroids to help her get over the
horrible relapse she was having. Also to get her to explain the
condition to Zara's family so they would realize that this was
not an 'Agbo' matter. I have had MS for nearly 10 years. My
walking has deteriorated and I am currently alternating
between a walker and a wheelchair. Zara was worried that she
wouldn't get married and have kids - I told her that I had 4
kids and was happily married and continued to work and that
there was hope. I have always been vocal about MS and even
appeared on a 'Moments with Mo' episode talking about it.
There are many Nigerians with MS - I know a few but they
want to keep quiet. Their families are embarrassed. Why? I
don't know? It can happen to anyone at any time.
Granted, I am extremely fortunate to have the strength of
character and a loving and supportive and enlightened family
to deal with this HORRIBLE condition that has led to this
opportunity for me to undergo Hemapioetic Stem Cell
Transplant (HSCT) - Google it. It has taken donations from
over 100 people to do this. It costs over $150k
(N24,727,501). I told Zara that since she was a US citizen,
she could get on a trial at the University of Chicago under Dr.
Burt for free. I just want people to know that MS didn't kill
Zara - ignorance did. As well as our fatalistic attitude in
Nigeria where everyone prays and no one takes action.
Thanks
Yemisi.
No comments:
Post a Comment