‘How Good Samaritan saved our son from the jaws of death’

This is the story a two-year old boy snatched from the jaws of death by a ‘Good Samaritan’ Obaloluwa Mark Kolade, born with hole in his heart, needed a corrective surgery available only abroad, specifically India. The father is into furniture works while the mother is a trader. In short, they were unable to raise the amount for the surgery, a little shy of N5,000,000 for the child to live. The beleaguered but prayerful parents took their plight to Sunday Vanguard which revealed their financial challenges to the reading public. family On March 23, 2016 when the paper published their cry for help,
not only were their phones bombarded with solidarity calls but the callers were asking for their bank details. Meanwhile, the account details provided by the parents in the published story were obviously not correct. The callers had actually gone to the bank to deposit money for the proposed surgery for little Obaloluwa but the details were wrong, necessitating the callers calling back to verify the said details. As Mrs. Motunrayo Kolade would later admit, it was God that was working, because “nobody would have had the patience to still call back when they had already gone to the bank to make deposit. I was shocked when they called to say that the account details were not correct, and that we should provide the correct details for them”. The parents were excited that the needed help was beginning to manifest. However, the said help was just trickling in such that it was only about N150,000 out of the N5million required for the boy’s surgery. “Two days after the publication, a telephone caller insisted on speaking to the mother of Obaloluwa. The father gave the phone to his wife. A conversation ensued. And there began the beginning of the change and ultimate healing of Obaloluwa. “The caller asked if indeed the child was sick. He asked if actually i was the mother of the child. He then requested for the number of the doctor in charge of his case at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH. I provided all the information. The following day, he called again saying he was representing his principal who would want to remain anonymous now and forever”, she stated. That same day, the entire family was asked to report to the Passport Office at Ikoyi the following day even with a promise that the fare of the chartered cab that brought the family would be paid, when they got to Ikoyi. As expected, the couple was doubtful. Doubtful because the God-sent Good Samaritan was not willing to show his face, but importantly, the couple found it so strange the arrangement(to travel to India) could be that fast. “Even though we had our doubt, we were hopeful that, ultimately, everything would be positive since we were not parting with our money. In any case, we had no money. The whole drama was just too fast to be true. In this Nigeria of today, somebody would just wake up, process all your traveling documents including visa and cost of treatment abroad within days, without knowing you from Adams? It was just to good to be true”.“By Thursday, of that week, the visa for both mother and child was ready even as accommodation, feeding and surgery cost had been paid for. ” Until I and my boy stepped into the aircraft, it didn’t dawn on me that truly I was going to India. The whole drama was not different from what we all watch on television. All through the process of sorting out the traveling documents, it was only once in less than one minute that our benefactor spoke to us. He asked after our boy’s health and prayed that he would get healing as we departed. He is a man of few words”, the grateful mother narrated.”Getting to India was easy. I was warmly welcomed and a day later I proceeded for the various tests required before the surgery could hold. Two days later, everything was over. I returned to the country about ten days later with a healthier and happier Obaloluwa. We decided to return to Sunday Vanguard to thank the paper for its assistance, thank all those who supported us through prayers, words of encouragement, donations here and there and, more importantly, this donor who does not want his name mentioned. He would not want us to thank him but God. We learnt that he has a non-governmental organization,NGO, which goes about assisting people like us. And since he has finished his business with us, he has moved on to other people’s plight. We are using Sunday Vanguard medium to say may God continue to bless him and his family”