A worker at the University of Waterloo fights to save his mother’s life.
Tony Nwokoro is a Nigeria. Es permanent resident optometrist of Canada for two years and now works as an optometry technician at the University of Waterloo as part of the process to earn his optometrist degree in Ontario.
When he and his wife Justina welcomed a new baby six months ago, his mother Barbara planned to come pick them up from Nigeria.
“I came here to meet my son for the first time,” says Tony.
But shortly after her arrival, at the end of September, Barbara suddenly fell ill. He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Barbara, 63, is now in a medical coma at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener.
“The most important thing is to waste my mother,” Tony says.
Barbara won competitive chemotherapy treatments and her insurance was temporarily terminated.
Since you are a Canadian resident, the expenses are piling up.
“A trip costs about $11,000, which I pay out of pocket,” says Tony.
This comes with costs related to ICU stay and blood transfusions.
Tony and Justina Nwokoro pose with their newborn. (Submitted)
The hope is to get Barbara to a point where she can return to Nigeria (or the United States) to get the life-saving bone marrow transplant.
The Faculty of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Waterloo, where Tony works, has started a fundraising campaign to pay for his mother’s medical expenses.
“He has a smile on his face and helps us keep going,” says Melinda Szilva, Tony’s colleague. “Even though he has a six-month-old at home who helps him stay up at night and he’s very worried about wasting his mother. “
When asked how he achieves his positive attitude, Tony has only one answer: his mother.
“It’s for her,” he said.