Olumese: A moving miracle at 60

•I’ve had both legs amputated, got a lung transplant, lived on oxygen for 7 years, lived 3 years on ventilator, yet I’m still standing! By Agatha Emeadi Dr Irene Olumese, a trauma transformational coach, is the Founder and Executive Director of Feet of Grace Foundation, an organization she started after her two feet were amputated. The foundation was founded to provide prosthetic limbs, artificial legs, wheel chairs and other assistive devices for women and children with missing limbs.     The mother of two, who turned 60 on October 1, flew in from Geneva to speak to the newspaper on how it has been living as a double amputee, the travails of health challenge while instituting a 60-For-60 fundraising to support the Seeders of Grace Prosthetic and Rehabilitation Training centre for women in Lagos. Could you kindly share the story that birthed ‘Feet of Grace Foundation? The story that birthed Feet of Grace Foundation is a long one. It spanned over 20 years when I was diagnosed of a respiratory disease that affected my lungs. Seven years of those 20 years, I was on oxygen supplementation when the doctors found that my lungs did not have the capacity to hold as much air to give me the necessary amount of oxygen that I needed. So I had to be on 24 hours oxygen supplementation – which meant that I needed to have oxygen cylinders in my house and wherever I was.     Prior to when I started having oxygen, I had three surgeries in my lungs. The first one was at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan in 1993. The second one was in Geneva. Then, three years before I eventually had a lung transplant, I had to be on ventilator in my home to help my lungs to breathe, so they do not stop breathing in the night. Eventually, in 2013 I had a lung transplant for which I was on the waiting list for three years before a suitable donor was identified for me. So, it was in the course of having a lung transplant and the complications that came after it that led to the amputation of my two legs. I survived the transplant but had post-surgical complications and eventually had to be in coma for about five to six weeks. When I came out of coma, I was told that both legs had to be amputated.     After my legs were amputated, I started rehabilitation in order to start using artificial leg as an adult learning how to walk again with the artificial leg. It required a lot of support from physiotherapist and occupational therapists. It was in the process of learning how to walk that I started thinking of how to support other amputees in Nigeria. I wondered how they got support for prosthetic limbs to walk again. That process led to the establishment of ‘Feet of Grace Foundation’ so that my pain can be a gain for other people. In 2014, we gradually started and had the first charity walk in Geneva in 2015 and that was how the foundation started working. That year, we were able to provide prosthetic limbs for two amputees in Nigeria.     How were you able to stay motivated to support others, recalling your painful experience? Well, the ability to stay motivated came from God. We never knew what was going to befell us, so we learnt to trust God each day with the experience. We knew that the journey did not catch God unaware, so I kept myself anchored on the trust of God. 2Corinthians 1:3-4 was my anchor scripture that supported me through the period. I share my testimony day-to-day to encourage myself and others especially as the words helped me. What are the activities of Feet of Grace Foundation? What is the ratio of the beneficiaries in the last 10 years? The Feet of Grace Foundations provides prosthetic limbs, artificial legs, wheelchairs and other assistive devices for women and children with missing limbs. We also provide scholarships for young students who are facing difficulties to complete their education to university level. The Foundation also provides support activities against poverty through the socio-economic empowerment activities to set up small businesses to yield some income for the victims to attend to their underlining medical history. Most of the women have underlying medical history such as diabetes, cancer for which they require medication. Because of the amputation, they might not be able to work, and some of them may have lost their businesses, which becomes double calamity. So we provide seed funds and training to help them set up an income generating activity. From the core activities, over 200 people have benefited from the Foundation. I guess part of the healing process was prompt and effective response in a foreign country. How would you advise Nigerian government in this regard? One of the things that one would wish to see in Nigeria is a functional medical insurance system. What makes medical services accessible is the availability of medical insurance system that people buy into. You cannot work into any hospital and just get free health care if you do not have a medical insurance. And sometimes, the kind of medical support you get is determined by the type of insurance that you hold. So free health care is really a need, somebody has to pay for it. If Nigeria has a system that ensures the largest part of the population has medical insurance, they can access the kind of medical services that they need. If one has to do health care on cash and carry, it means that only limited people can get it. What we will like to see in Nigeria is that people will be able to have access to the medications that they need. If someone needs to have an amputation surgery, looking for cash is a challenge coupled with the emotional toil of having a surgery. Again, prosthetic limbs are not cheap; most times it is only the philanthropic organisations that are able to provide it. All of these could be managed through a functional medical insurance system. How do you get funding for all the support to other women? In the beginning of every April, we do Feet of Grace annual Charity walk in different countries and cities where we have friends who are willing to walk with us. We walk between five and 10 kilometres and invite our friends to donate to Feet of Grace Foundation. Someone who is walking can ask a friend to support, we raise fund through that. We also write proposals to different organisations for support while presenting the amputees on waiting list to the organisations and if meets their ability to support, we raise money through that. In the same vein, when people are doing significant birthdays, we ask them to use the foundation as their give back to support. When I am on a speaking engagement, I present the foundations challenges. We depend on donors and good-hearted people to support women without limbs. What kind of support made the biggest difference in your case? The kind of support that made the biggest difference in my case was my family. I am being surrounded by a supportive husband and children who understood and stood by me through thick and thin. I still share the story of how difficult it was for me to look at the amputated legs and the stuns. I could not touch it for weeks. But, my husband and children were able to help me massage, bandage and provided all that support. Family support is critical. We need families to understand that amputation is not the end of the life. Losing a limb does not mean that the victims have lost their ability to become someone that will bring joy and amazing things in the family. Family support makes the biggest difference. From the video you shared online, you had a recent encounter at the international airport where you were almost barred from travelling because of disability. What is that thing you wish people should understand about people who live with disability? I think the first thing that became evident to me during my encounter at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport is that people need to understand that in different sectors of the society, people with disability are human beings who have equal rights. That disability can happen to anyone. People with disabilities should be treated with dignity and respect as a fellow human being. We are not asking for pity, but asking for people to understand that life has happened to us and we will not be able to do things like able-bodied people. So, when I get to the airport and someone tells me there is an embargo on people who require assistance to travel, you are basically telling us that we do not have the right to travel because you are not able to provide the facilities that enable us to travel. Yes, I am a Nigerian living abroad. Does it mean I cannot go back home? I should stay stuck in one place and that for me is unacceptable because it is the responsibility of every government to provide what is necessary to ensure that people with disability can strive wherever they find themselves. So the message we need to push out there is that people with disabilities have the right to live life in every sector of our society. We will continue to have this conversation until we are able to effect the change that we desire to see. We want an inclusive society. Therefore if our airports, train stations are not disability friendly, it means we have been excluded from such places and that is injustice, exclusion which we will not take. How has your experience shaped your perspectives about life? Well, the experience did not change my perspective about my life in general. Instead, it has informed me that we still have a lot of work to do, advocating for people living with disability and as a person living with disability, I cannot be silent. I have to keep speaking at any given opportunity with what is wrong and what is right in our society. We cannot be silent. If we are, it is to allow such things to continue. The more we talk about issues like this, the more we create critical marks and someday, our voices would be heard by the people in authority. My position is that we must continue to advocate for inclusivity in our society, Nigeria. How was growing up, your family before marriage, and then marriage itself? I was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, but grew up in Lagos. My father was a Methodist Church minister while my mother was teacher at Methodist School. Because of the nature of my father’s job, he was transferred from Ibadan to Lagos from where I had my primary and secondary education. I had a brief stop at Federal Government College, Odogbolu for my A levels before I gained admission to the University of Ibadan where I studied Human Nutrition, got my Masters and my Doctorate in Nutrition Sciences from the same Department. I am the first of seven children which came with its responsibilities. I stopped playing with toys at the age of six to take care of my younger ones. I grew up under a strict Christian background which was the foundation for us. One thing that stood out in my childhood was the regular transfer of my father. From Ibadan we moved to Ikoyi, Ebute Metta, Olowogbowo, Itire and Obanikoro. I met my husband, Dr Peter Olumese at the University of Ibadan. We were both in the musical fellowship of the school. He played the instrument while I was a singer. Our groups had a concert and that was how we met. He played the instrument while I was a singer. We became friends from 1985 until 1992 when we got married. We had a beautiful wedding with family and friends. Our journey started rough with a stillbirth at 32 weeks in January 1993. That tough experience bonded us and formed a solid foundation for us to be able to face adversities together. We never anticipated all that befell us. I started working with United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) shortly after I lost the baby. It was during the medical clearance test that it was discovered that I had something making me to cough. That was how the diagnosis was made and I was frequently in the hospital facing one crisis or the other. I had the first surgery in 1993 at UCH, Ibadan. I also continued to work even though the disease did not go. We focused on our marital vows as Christians and God helped us through. Later, I got an international job in Ghana while my husband got a job in Switzerland. Eventually we had two sons and both boys got married in the past one year. Raising my children amidst my health challenges and living in different countries for a significant part of our lives required frequency communication between us. When I was applying for international jobs, I refused to go to countries that will not allow me take my children. At a stage of my life, even when I was aiming at management level in UNICEF, I opted from my career to settle my children in school and be present in their lives in Geneva. So raising them in another culture ensures that the children held the values we held dear as a couple. What advice would you give to amputees facing major challenges? The first is that they should not give up on hope. No matter the situation, the battle might be lost or won from the mind because our life goes to the direction of our thoughts. If we entertain fear and worry, we put ourselves in the position where we cannot fight the battle. We can keep hope alive anchored on God’s promises, faith and trust in God. My first counsel to such people is to hold firm to hope. I share my story of how God’s grace sustained me through over 20 years of living with chronic afflictions, seven years of being on oxygen, three years on ventilator and amputation of two legs. All of that is by the Grace of God. How we face those realities impacts on how we come out on the other side. Keep hope alive. I fought in my mind because I wanted to be with my husband and children, therefore I chose to live. By the grace of God, I have been able to transform my painful experiences of losing a child, pain of living with chronic and debilitating diseases for almost 30 years and pain of losing my legs into helping others. I share my story to inspire others. I trained to become a trauma transformational coach that supports people to heal from their pain. As I approach my 60th birthday on October 1, my desire is to support the Feet of Grace foundation to build a Seeders of Grace residential prosthetic rehabilitation vocational training centre. At the Seeders of Grace, women would be able to come in and learn how to walk so they do not abandon the expensive prosthetic we provide for them. While they are there, they will learn a vocation or skill to earn a living. We can recall that most of our victims come from different parts of the country to get the prosthetics and learning how to use it is another challenge. All of this takes consistency to walk again, and also work with their hands. To make my 60th birthday a legacy, I am instituting a 60-For-60 fundraising to support the Feet of Grace Foundation to build the Seeders of Grace Prosthetic and Rehabilitation Training Centre which will outlive the celebration of the milestone birthday. While living with disability, what is your everyday life like? I am a full time worker. I am the Executive Director of Feet of Grace Foundation, which means managing the programme of implementation in Nigeria, ensure there is inflow of funds to manage the work that we do to support amputees. We spend an average of N1.2 million per amputee. My primary responsibility is to make sure we get significant amount to function. I write the proposal and grants. I have a full schedule. I do live videos. I work from home and visit Nigeria two to three times in a year for the work to be on-going. Tags:

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