All The Things We Know About The #SaveMayowa Wahala

Sometime in July 2016, this video of a young Nigeria woman, Mayowa Ahmed, a sickle cell carrier, who is currently battling stage 4 ovarian cancer went viral. She was appealing to Nigerians to help save her life by donating towards the $100,000 needed for her treatment in Emory hospital, Atlanta.

Anyone who have the capacity to help, such is your friend. Let's #SaveMayowa
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Ahmed Mayowa
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— E-commerce Expert (@TosinOlugbenga) July 27, 2016

Amazingly, less than a week after the video came up, Nigerians donated generously to the GoFundMe account opened in her name and the $100,000 goal was completed.

Mayowa’s campaign was so touching, controversial Nollywood actress, Toyin Aimakhu paid her a visit and even tried to cheer her up.

Also, Aramide Kasumu from Lifestake Foundation, an NGO in Lagos,  visited her and ensured her admission into LUTH.

Just when it looked like Mayowa was going to get a chance at saving her life, an unverified news source claimed the #SaveMayowa campaign was a scam.

According to this report, the doctors at LUTH said Mayowa’s life was beyond saving and the family simply took advantage of her sickness to cheat Nigerians.

This outrageous report made several Nigerians reach out to the family for explanation. And emails the family shared with representatives of some hospitals overseas were released.

They also shared Mayowa’s current medical status with Nigerians in a bid to clear their family’s name.

Her medical story shows how she became ill in 2015 and was misdiagnosed in LASUTH for almost one year. When her condition worsened, they contacted Emory Hospital in April 2016 and were asked to deposit the sum of $100,000.

According to the medical report, “Ahmed, Mayowa Shukura has been a known healthy HBSS patient from her early years and because we detected it early…. but after graduation she seemed to have more frequent cases of hospital visits with Ulcer being the diagnosis most times, we began to manage Ulcer in LASUTH. By July 2015, the ulcer as it was diagnosed, became worse as it had progressed from pangs to vomiting and stooling blood so frequently. At this point, our confident in LASUTH was not firm anymore because it just wasnt working and we were not getting enough care so we tried another place- Isolo General Hospital as we knew a Management Doctor there. It was fine for a few days but then we went back to status quo.”

As if the rumours weren’t enough trauma, Aramide Kasumu and Toyin Aimakhu contacted the police and Mayowa’s brothers were arrested.

They both claimed Mayowa’s brothers refused to let them see Mayowa on July 27 and the family received more than the $100,000 funds they asked for. But they forgot to add how Nigerians continued to donate even after they announced they had reached their goal.

Following these claims, Mayowa’s family announced how plans to take Mayowa to the U.S changed.

Speaking via Bellanaija’s comment section, they explained how Mayowa needs to be stabilized in Dubai because of her critical health condition before further travel plans can be made.

In this video, Mayowa’s cousin, Habeeb, released this statement maintaining all their family did was just to keep Mayowa alive.

Although the account dedicated to raising funds for Mayowa has been blocked, Habeeb called out to competent legal trustees to help them handle the funds just to convince Nigerians of the sincerity of their actions.

Mayowa’s sister also denied all the allegations and shared how Mayowa is deeply saddened by the bad news circulating all over social media.

Addressing the issue, Lagos state Comissioner, CP Fatai Owoseni, has directed a full-scale investigation of the allegation.

Speaking to journalists from NTA, a doctor in LUTH denied saying Mayowa’s life was beyond saving.

But unfortunately, this drama has put Mayowa in more emotional stress in addition to her fragile health.

This story also shows how important it is to properly fact-check before spreading information.

It’s also important to remember that Mayowa’s condition is still delicate at this point. We hope she gets better soon.

Take note, Linda!