A 30-YEAR-OLD man from Gobabis who has been battling abnormal growth of glands on his neck and chest, is requesting financial assistance to have it surgically removed.
Sakeus Hailonga developed an abnormal growth on his lower left ear, neck and chest as a result of a car accident he was involved in at the age of eight.
He told Nampa on Tuesday that splinters of the car’s broken windscreen pricked the skin around the area where the glands have now developed.
The area became itchy, and he noticed the glands forming and swelling over the years.
Hailonga said the growths make it difficult for him to have a normal life because they are often itchy and do not allow him to come into direct sunlight, as they become painful.
The glands also require constant cleaning as they often burst open, needing cleaning immediately, which is often painful.
An operation to remove the swollen glands was successfully conducted on Hailonga in 2010, but the glands started growing again two years later.
“The new growth came as a result of me working in the sun at a charcoal plant outside Gobabis where I landed a job in 2011. It seems these things (growths) do not like to be exposed to direct sunlight,” he said.
The unemployed father of five said attempts to get help from the Ministry of Health and Social Services proved futile, as he was sent from pillar to post without any assistance.
Hailonga consulted a private doctor earlier this year, and the unnamed Windhoek-based doctor quoted N$46 310 for the operation – funds which he is battling to collect.
“I just go around town with a donation form for people to give whatever they can afford. I have thus far gathered less than N$ 1 000 as people are reluctant to assist. I just hope for better days,” he said.
Hailonga lives with a girlfriend, whom he said has been helpful to him and is his sole caregiver.
– Nampa
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