HELP NEEDED: Family Seeks N4m for Life-Changing Surgery for 12-Year-Old Boy Living With Exposed Intestine

The family of 12-year-old Enoch Ayomide is urgently appealing for financial assistance to raise N4 million needed for a critical corrective surgery that would allow their son to live a normal life.

Enoch, who has been bedridden for over a year, cannot defecate through his anus due to complications from a failed surgery. Instead, he passes stool through a stoma — an opening on his abdomen — with part of his intestines permanently protruding.

In an emotional interview with PUNCH Metro, Enoch’s father, Mr. Paul Ayomide, a former private school teacher based in Lagos, said the family had exhausted all resources after spending over N5 million on treatments and hospital bills.

“This N4m is standing between my son and a return to normal life,” Mr. Ayomide said. “He is only 12. He has not known what it feels like to wear normal clothes, eat freely, or go to school since early 2024.”

Enoch’s medical ordeal began with persistent stomach pain misdiagnosed as typhoid or malaria. After failed treatments and worsening symptoms, the boy was eventually admitted to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), where doctors diagnosed him with a ruptured intestine caused by typhoid.

During emergency surgery, doctors at LUTH performed an exploratory laparotomy and created an ileostomy — a procedure that diverted his bowel to the abdominal wall due to severe damage. However, the resulting complications left him with a controlled low-output enterocutaneous fistula, meaning he now defecates uncontrollably through the abdominal opening.

The family is struggling to manage the hygienic and emotional toll of Enoch’s condition. His parents have both quit their teaching jobs to care for him full-time, as his condition requires constant attention and expensive medical supplies, such as antiseptics, cotton wool, and colostomy bags to prevent infection.

“He defecates anytime and anywhere. He cannot control it. His mother has to constantly clean him up. He doesn’t wear clothes at home. Even boxers are a luxury now because the faeces will ruin them in minutes,” Mr. Ayomide explained.

Enoch has not attended school or church in over a year and is emotionally devastated by his condition.

“He cries when he sees his friends going to school. He misses school. He misses church. He is so ashamed of his body,” his father added. “Sometimes the smell makes him cry. He has been emotionally broken, and we’re just trying to keep him strong.”

A medical report signed by Dr. Felix Alakaloko, a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at LUTH, confirms that Enoch underwent major surgery due to typhoid perforation and severe anaemia, and is currently under regular follow-up care.

The proposed second surgery (reversal surgery) would reposition the intestine inside the abdomen and restore normal bowel function — giving Enoch a real chance at childhood and dignity.

The Ayomide family is now appealing to well-meaning Nigerians, humanitarian organisations, and government agencies for help.

“I am begging everyone who reads this. Please, help me save my son. Help me give him a chance to be a child again. We just want to raise N4m so that he can have this second surgery and return to school like every other boy.”