70-year-old veteran journalist, Chief Sam Arikpo, who is bedridden after battling with bilateral osteoarthritis of the hips with associated subluxation of the right hip, has cried out for help.
Arikpo, now on a wheel chair with severe pains caused by waist deformity, said medical experts have advised him to do a total hip replacement if he is to avert being completely crippled for life.
Narrating the origin of his predicament, Arikpo said: “The problem came some years ago as a result of two accidents which I had while playing squash. It’s been tough; even to wake up from bed and ease myself is difficult. As an active person who loves to serve humanity both in Lions Club International and serving God in Full Gospel Business Fellowship, I can no longer do that because of my situation.
“I have been held up at home and cannot move. This has caused my health to deteriorate. I can’t reach out to people. Staying indoors has really affected my financial situation, making me to beg from friends to eat. It’s been terrible for me. It’s the reason I am appealing to friends, well wishers and good minded people to come to my aid. I am looking up to God to touch kind hearted friends to rise up to assist me.
“Doctors attending to me advised that I should act fast so as not to put my entire health in jeopardy. I have no money with to pay the hospital for the implant nor to take care of myself as a result of the health challenge. If not for friends who would just come to me to say, ‘please, use this to buy food.”
The veteran journalists, who is also a staunch member of the International Association of Lions Club and former president of the Calabar Municipal Lions Club, stated that the surgery bill was in the region of N8 million.
He appealed to good and public spirited individuals to pay whatever amount they could afford into Access Bank Account Number 0007242532 with the account name: Sam Arikpo and Telephone number 08037087043.
The bedridden journalist, who began his career with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation and Television, was a onetime PRO of South Eastern State NUJ before he retired into politics. He later became the Media Adviser to the former Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, and is still a chapter president of the Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship International.
