Every day, Odunayo Faroye longs for the kind of active life her mates enjoy. Such boisterous lifestyle was normal for the 10-year-old pupil until two years ago when she injured her leg while playing around her neighbourhood in the Alagbado area of Lagos State.
Since then, her daily living has been marred by pains. While her mates explored their world to the fullest and eagerly anticipate the excitement every other day has to offer, Faroye has been bogged down by boredom.
The Junior Secondary School 1 pupil is now a shadow of her agile self, shuttling between school and hospital with a plaster of paris wedged into her left leg.
Her mother, Bose, told City Round during the week that doctors at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, assured her that Faroye would walk normally with the leg if she could raise N500,000 for a corrective surgery.
She said, “My daughter broke her leg about two years ago while she was playing. We thought it was a minor injury until she started complaining of severe pains. We have been taking her to Igbobi for treatment. The doctor told us that she has to undergo a surgery and it will cost N500,000 but I don’t have the means.
“I am a petty trader. My husband died some years ago, and I have been the only one taking care of her and her siblings. She is in JSS 1. The injury is really affecting her schooling because it does not allow her to have full concentration. I am appealing to people to come to her aid.”

By Afeez Hanafi