IS it a crime to be born in Nigeria? Is it unwise to expend one’s youthful energy and time for one’s country? Is it a crime to represent one’s country at international sporting events? Is it really more rewarding to change nationality when one becomes a sports celebrity?

These and many other questions must be running through the mind of former Nigerian international athlete, Miss Grace Ebukuyo, now Mrs Akindele, who, for over a decade, represented the country and won several laurels at many international games, including the Commonwealth Games, All Africa Games, First All West African Games, among others.

The 100meter, 400meter and 800meter sprinter has today become a ghost of her former ebullient, beautiful, charming and elegant self.

When The Guardian team visited this queen of the track recently, emotions and tears from members of the team nearly marred the mission as her sight and deplorable state of her health would certainly make a Shina Rambo for a moment, shed tears.

Assisted to sit on the chair by her husband, Grace was motionless, speechless, frail and seriously emaciated, while those legs and hands that did the track magic in the 1970s and early 1980s are almost lifeless.

Grace can no longer recognize anybody, except her husband. The once energetic athlete, now bed-ridden for the past decade, has been down with multiple ailments, which include cerebral meningitis, high blood pressure hypertension and diabetes. All these have resulted in her present disturbing state of health where she not only suffers from loss of memory, but is almost dumb and deaf now.

Grace began her athletic career as a teenager at the defunct St. James’ Anglican Modern School, Igbotako in the old Okitipupa Division, where she represented the school at many inter-school competitions at both the divisional and inter-divisional levels.

It was at the Manuwa Memorial Grammar School (MMGS), Iju-Odo, in the same Okitipupa Division that Grace was ushered into the national limelight, which in turn took her to the international scene where she won many laurels for Nigeria.

It remains on record that young Grace, at the tender age of 15, was in the Nigerian contingent to the 1973 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand.

The most agonizing part of the visit was her inability to talk or answer any question that was put to her with a view to getting some facts from her because of her near dumb and deaf situation. So it was her husband, Sunday Akindele, who answered all the questions, especially those relating to her ill-health.

According to Akindele, his wife was “first diagnosed for cerebral meningitis at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) but later doctors in the hospital discovered that she is also suffering from diabetes and hypertension.”

“Since then, I have been taking her from one hospital to another hoping that she would overcome the disease but unfortunately her condition continues to get worse.”

“Though, some doctors, after seeing our restless efforts, advised us to fly her abroad for treatment, but the source of funding the traveling expenses and the cost of treatment has been a constraint and the reason she has remained on sick bed at home all these years, because there has been no one to assist us,” he lamented.

Doctors have said we would need about N10million to fly her abroad for treatment and traveling expenses.

Akindele said the family’s little resources is being used to buy medication that could prolong her life until when “the heart of kind Nigerians would be touched and come to our rescue.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124910:dying-former-commonwealth-medalist-ebukuyo-seeks-help-for-treatment-abroad&catid=3:metro&Itemid=558

Front Page abeg... this woman really needs help.