Born without skull: US doctors create fresh head for Nigerian child!

With  much expectation, the world is waiting to see  OkikiJesu Olawuyi grab a fitting place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Many across the world want to see this happen. And what that means is that a Nigerian child is well on her way to making history once she scales the mountain of surgeries standing in her path of life.

OkikiJesu  Olawuyi was born without a skull but not without a will to live. Bones from her hands are being obtained to construct a skull bone to help her live. Amazingly, she is winning this battle for  her life  at John Hopkins University in far away United States of America. There, the best hands the world can assemble are with her every passing hour fighting a medical war to give life to a miracle child  who has announced to  the entire human community that she has something different to offer. First grade surgeons – irrespective of colour, race and tongue are tasking  their expertise to see that this wonder of the 21st century lives to tell her story and  reports say that they are doing a great job to save her.

OkikiJesu is getting moral and material support  from across the world to help her live. An avalanche of support is coming her way. Her parents are carrying the burden of pain and anguish with stoic patience. They are fighting to remedy a medical case they cannot tell how it all started.    The child needs a lot more financial assistance to pull through, her father, Mr. Caleb Olawuyi, says.  He disclosed that she needed an additional $500,000 to undergo the final operation that would enable her live  a normal life. Experts say that is possible and they can achieve that. While appealing for generous support from government, corporate organizations and private individuals to help the baby live, Mr. Olawuyi, has equally urged government to set up funds to assist babies afflicted with critical ailments. Speaking straight from the heart, he noted that one needed to be close to a child in pains to know how it feels.

Since news of the child’s medical condition was disclosed, the world has been aghast. She was born on May 11, 2010 with a rare birth deformity which means  over 50 per cent of her skull doesn’t exist. The world has not seen anything of this stuff. In recorded history, Sunday Sun gathered that this medical condition has never been reported anywhere. The child’s condition is one that appears to have turned medicine on its head, having thrown up tremendous professional challenge to the human race. Now, the very best the world has known are  fighting a crunchy battle to overcome this, leaving many – particularly those with  hearts of stone- wondering if there is nothing they can offer to help.

Now from the home sector, help is coming for  three-year-old Okiki and her parents. Since the condition of the baby became public knowledge, a non profit  organization had stepped in to assist. Global Initiative for Peace, Love and Care (GIPLC) has been doing all it can  to give life to the child whose medical condition is not traceable to  her parents. With the assistance of the organization’s Coordinator and Project Manager, Mr. Nuhu Kwajafa, the child  and her parents were on May 4, 2013, flown  to the United States. There, she is currently undergoing skull reconstruction surgery at the John Hopkins University Medical Centre.

Now, the child’s and her father’s cry for help comes ringing through the airways asking Nigerians to help her live. Here is a child  the world is interested in. The non-profit organization is doing its  best  at that level to help her survive. Sunday Sun gathered that while the world was  a short while  away from screaming uhuru at the wonderful breakthrough, an unforeseen complication arose after over 14 hours of  surgery. This followed inconsistencies in her medical history. Besides, her case marked a maiden attempt in paediatric neurosurgery. This, therefore, led to a further accumulation of medical bills totaling over US$500,000. This bill is  spiraling every passing day OkikiJesu  and her parents spend at the Johns Hopkins facility.

Specialists in the USA have identified the rare birth deformity which OkikiJesu is suffering, as Congenital Cranial Deficiency. Before now, she had been to several hospitals but not cured, but luck flashed on her pathway when GIPLC, which is based in Abuja took up her case. Sunday Sun learnt that since then, the organization has recorded significant success in efforts to get medical care for her. Within just a week, it raised about $234,000, an equivalent of N37 million through kind gestures from individuals and groups for her treatment at  John Hopkins Hospital.

Kwajafa , just back from the United States, told Sunday Sun that “prior to the complications which arose, what made a determination of the full cost of Okiki’s surgery difficult is that in modern times, it is an extremely rare (perhaps singular) medical condition with no precedence to draw estimates  from.

“This latter fact also means that it is equally difficult to tell what other medical complications may arise. An example  are  fluids that were retained in her cranial cavity which have posed an unforeseen challenge and may have led to a fatal infection.”

Kwajafa’s worry is that, “OkikiJesu  may not be released from hospital until all outstanding bills have been paid. We and her parents are desirous of  her condition being fully remedied before she leaves the hospital.” Against this backdrop, he said  “We would like to appeal to the global public to support our cause in ensuring that OkikiJesu  Olawuyi lives.”

Medical analysts believe  she  will be a living testimony if she recovers. According to GIPLC, her case remains the only one of its kind in the world.

When OkikiJesu’s father, Mr. Olawuyi spoke to Sunday Sun on telephone from  John Hopkins Hospital, he expressed optimism that the girl was doing well and had remained in stable condition. He said “We thank God that she is responding positively to every operation performed  on her. The doctors attending to her are also pleased with her present condition. They  said she is a miracle child,because she is so far the only child in the world with this kind of health condition.

“They told us that there is no case of her type in medical history at their disposal the world over. There are three renowned  doctors attending to OkikiJesu and the experience is so great.

“They keep assuring us that everything will be fine soon. We are also hoping positively and asking God to deliver our child.”

In a voice laden with emotion, he appealed to Nigerians to assist the child  to live through their generous donations, pointing out that with money available, the baby was sure to survive.

“But our greatest challenge here is the cost of her treatment  in the hospital. It’s indeed a very tough experience for us as parents.

The medical bill keeps increasing daily and has since been piling up. The treatment has over-shot the initial bill that was given to us before we came, because her condition exceeded their estimation.

The major issue is the hospital bill and not really our up-keep, that is, myself, my wife and our 15-month old baby, (Okiki’s younger sister). She is currently at the intensive care unit (ICU). This costs between $6,000 and  $10,000 daily. Sometimes, two nurses are stationed to take care of her daily and it costs a lot of money.

“The good thing is that they are not taking any chance. They are all over her all the time. They are monitoring her regularly especially as she is an international patient. The bill is growing higher,” he lamented.

Okiki’s father further stated that for “every parent of a child with this critical health challenge, one only manages to sleep and to wake up hoping that the next day would be different. We have gone through this trauma all this while. Though, we have faith in God but every passing day, we are afraid for her life. Here in the hospital, as critical as her condition is , we are living and sharing her pains more so that the bills pile up  every moment.

“ We appeal to Nigerians not to give up on Okiki. With their support, God will not disappoint us because she keeps improving daily. All the operations have been very critical. They took bones from her hand and leg to construct her skull. And she is doing fine.

“We appreciate efforts by all Nigerians including  individuals, groups and corporate organizations. Everybody has been very supportive. We thank the Nigerian government, the National Assembly, and particularly the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal and other kind-hearted people and members of our family for their support.

“On behalf of our daughter Okiki, and other children and parents in this condition, we urge government to institute a Special Trust Fund to take care of such rare and critical cases in the country. This fund should be adequately funded to cater for such critical needs.

“For us, Okiki’s parents, we are in this condition but hope that one day God will deliver us.

“In this situation, we repeat our appeal for quick intervention from the government and other Nigerians. Our wish here is that others should be spared this experience. We plead further with government to establish a fund to cater for such children in this condition.”

Couple Born on Same Day, Married 75 Years, Die One Day Apart!

A California couple born on the same day and married for 75 years, died only one day apart.

Helen and Les Brown

According to the Long Beach Press- Telegram, Helen and Les Brown died on July 16 and 17 respectively, both were 94.

Zach Henderson, owner of the Ma N'Pa Grocery in Long Beach, Calif., said he saw the couple almost daily and called their relationship "a wonderful blessing."

"About a year ago, [Helen] had her hand on his face and they were cheek to cheek," Henderson said. "She said, 'Isn't he the most handsome man you've ever seen?' hat's exactly how they were. They were full of love and passion."

According to the Press-Telegram, the couple also shared the same birthday of Dec. 31, 1918, and eloped in 1937 after they met in high school.

Henderson said that even though the couple were in their 90s they remained active in their community and insisted a local band set up in their driveway during a residential block party.
"They were fun-loving and beautiful people," Henderson said.

The couple were Jehovah's Witnesses and their oldest son, Les Brown Jr., told the Press-Telegram their faith strengthened their marriage.

"It was a real love match, wasn't it," said Les Brown Jr. "They were together every day for 75 years."
 

When they died, the Press-Telegram reported that Les Brown was suffering from Parkinson's disease and Helen Brown had stomach cancer. 

However, Henderson said he never realized that Helen Brown was sick, even though he dropped off groceries to their home almost on daily basis.

"She was completely cognitive," Henderson said, describing how he found Helen Brown a few days before she died. "It seems like she was waiting for Les to be comfortable and they were going to move on to something else with each other."

A public service will be held for the couple on Saturday afternoon in Long Beach, Calif.

Egypt warns sit-ins as weekend death toll climbs!

Egypt's interior minister on Sunday pledged to deal decisively with any attempts to destabilize the country, a thinly veiled warning to supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi occupying two squares in Cairo in a month-long stand-off with the security forces.

 

The warning came as authorities said that the death toll in weekend clashes between Mohammed Morsi's Islamist backers and security forces near one of those sit-ins had reached 72, in the deadliest single outbreak of violence since the July 3 military coup.
"I assure the people of Egypt that the police are determined to maintain security and safety to their nation and are capable of doing so," Mohammed Ibrahim told a graduation ceremony at the national police academy. "We will very decisively deal with any attempt to undermine stability," said Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police.

Ibrahim's comments added pressure on Morsi's backers three weeks after the Islamist president was ousted in a military coup that followed days of street protests by millions calling on him to step down.

On Friday, millions again took to the streets in a show of support for Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the military chief who ousted Morsi. Those protests were in response to Abdel-Fattah's call for a mandate for him and the police to tackle what he called violence and potential terrorism.



Ibrahim, who had been appointed by Morsi, took an uncompromising stance in a news conference on Saturday, accusing the pro-Morsi side of provoking bloodshed to win sympathy and suggesting that authorities could move against the two main pro-Morsi protest camps: one outside the Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque in eastern Cairo and another in Nahda Square near the main campus of Cairo university.
He depicted the two encampments as a danger to the public, pointing to a string of nine bodies police have said were found nearby in recent days. Some had been tortured to death, police have said, apparently by members of the sit-ins who believed they were spies.




Neither side in the Egyptian conflict, however, has shown much taste for reconciliation. Islamists staunchly reject the new leadership and insist the only possible solution to the crisis is to reinstate Morsi. Meanwhile, the interim leadership is pushing ahead with a fast-track transition plan to return to a democratically elected government by early next year.
Interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei, a longtime pro-democracy campaigner who backed the military's ouster of Morsi, raised one of the few notes of criticism of Saturday's bloodshed.
"I highly condemn the excessive use of force and the fall of victims," he wrote in a tweet, though he did not directly place blame for the use of force. He added that he is "working very hard and in all directions to end this confrontation in a peaceful manner."

But the image of the Islamists as dangerous and not the peaceful protesters they contend they are has had a strong resonance. Over past weeks, there have been cases of armed Islamist Morsi backers attacking opponents — though the reverse also has occurred. Before Saturday, some 180 people had been killed in clashes nationwide.

 

Rick Warren returns to pulpit after son's suicide!

Nearly four months after his son's suicide, popular pastor Rick Warren returned to the pulpit Saturday afternoon at the Southern California megachurch he founded.

 

Warren, dressed in his usual casual black T-shirt and jeans, took the stage at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. with wife, Kay Warren, and was greeted with a long standing ovation by the congregation.

A shout of "We love you!" came from the crowd before Warren began.
"I love you, too," a smiling Warren replied. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

It was the first time Warren had taken the Saddleback pulpit since his 27-year-old son Matthew shot and killed himself on April 5.

In the sermon, first in a series called "How To Get Through What You're Going Through," Rick Warren said he had the perfect role model for his struggles. "God knows what it's like to lose a son," Warren said.

He remained mostly composed, but choked back tears at times, including when he thanked his surviving two children.

"How proud I was of Amy and Josh, who for 27 years loved their younger brother," Warren said. "They talked him off the ledge time after time. They are really my heroes."

He delivered a formal, prepared speech with notes and quotes from Scripture but often broke off to talk frankly about his son.
"I was in shock for at least a month after Matthew took his life," Warren said.
But, Warren said he was grateful to come from "a family of spiritual redwoods."
"Satan picked the wrong team to pick on," he said.


Warren has been an essential figure in the modern, megachurch brand of Christianity.

His multimillion-selling book "The Purpose Driven Life" made him a national star in the realms of religion and self-help, and he delivered the opening prayer at President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration.

Saddleback, the church he founded in 1980, has grown to 20,000 members, according to Warren's biography on the church's website.
But in April, Matthew Warren, after a lifetime of struggle with depression, shot and killed himself in what Warren at the time called "a momentary wave of despair."

"For 27 years I prayed every day of my life for God to heal my son's mental illness," Warren said.

But Warren said Saturday that he intended to turn his grief into a message of service and hope.
"God wants to take your greatest sorrow and turn it into your life's greatest message," he said.

Austrian flap over bell dedicated to Hitler!

Like many others in Austria's countryside, a tower bell above the red-tiled rooftops of Wolfpassing village marks the passing of each hour with an unspectacular "bong." But this bell is unique: It is embossed with a swastika and praise to Adolf Hitler.

 

And unlike more visible remnants of the Nazi era, the bell was apparently overlooked by official Austria up to now.
Ensconced in the belfry of an ancient castle where it was mounted by fans of the Nazi dictator in 1939, the bell has tolled on for nearly 80 years. It survived the defeat of Hitler's Germany, a decade of post-war Soviet occupation that saw Red Army soldiers lodge in the castle and more recent efforts by Austria's government to acknowledge the country's complicity in crimes of that era and make amends.

Some of those efforts have focused on identifying relics of that time and ensuring they're either removed or put in historical context. As an example, officials often cite government moral and material support for the restoration of the Mauthausen concentration camp, where a museum documents atrocities for school children and other visitors.

The Wolfpassing bell pays homage to Hitler for his 1938 annexation of Austria, a move supported back then by the vast majority of the nation's citizens. It describes Hitler as "the unifier and Fuehrer of all Germans" and says he freed the "Ostmark" — Nazi jargon for Austria — "from the yoke of suppression by foreign elements and brought it home into the Great-German Reich."

a visitor looks at a crematory of the former Nazi concentrate

Local historian Johannes Kammerstaetter says most villagers would have known about it. But village mayor Josef Sonnleitner asserts even the villagers had no clue until the first media reports last month on the "Fuehrerglocke," or "Fuehrer Bell."

"Nobody cared until all this publicity," he said on the telephone. He refused a request for a longer interview, saying he was busy for the next two weeks with haying.

In any case, the government's recent sale of the castle — with all its historical trappings — has suddenly made the bell an issue beyond the sleepy village of 1,500 people about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Vienna.
In a country particularly sensitive about suggestions it has not fully faced its Nazi past, officials are scrambling for explanations of why the bell apparently evaded notice for so long. They also are under pressure to justify a ruling by the government agency in charge of historic monuments that it must remain part of the castle as part of its heritage— despite the refusal of the new owner to say what he plans to do with it.

Propagating Nazi values or praising the era is illegal in Austria. Kammerstaetter, the historian, has formally asked state prosecutors to examine whether the government's sale of the bell is a criminal offence. He says the change of ownership could constitute a case of "spreading National Socialist ideology" on the part of the government agency in charge of state-owned property

Raimund Fastenbauer

 
Raimund Fastenbauer, a senior official of Vienna's Jewish community, invokes other concerns, noting that other Hitler-era relics like the dictator's house of birth in the western town of Braunau have become a magnet for neo-Nazis.
"I think the best thing would be if the bell disappeared and was buried somewhere," he says.

For its part, the government says that the sale was legal, along with the decision to keep the bell in the belfry as an integral component of the castle.
Economics Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner says the agency overseeing the sale was not aware of the inscription.
He notes in a letter to Kammerstaetter that "the bell up to now was neither publicly displayed nor generally accessible," adding that he does not see the sale as constituting a criminal offense.

Ernst Eichinger, a spokesman for the agency responsible for government real-estate, says that with a portfolio of more than 28,000 buildings — many of them huge — "we cannot search every centimeter" before a sale.
Concerns are heightened by the lack of clarity about what the new owner, Tobias Hufnagl, plans to do with the relict. Two web domains linked to him or his holding company, hufnagel.cc and thinvestments.com, did not open.
Sonnleitner, the Wolfpassing mayor, says has not been able to directly contact Hufnagl, despite weeks of trying.

In a terse email this week responding to numerous Associated Press queries seeking permission to film the bell and asking about its fate, Hufnagl said he had "no interest" in exchanges with the AP.

A 'Skinny Mirror' that has been acclaimed to make you look TEN POUNDS lighter!

Entrepreneur Belinda Jasmine has come up with a cunning alternative to cosmetic surgery - a mirror that makes people look almost a stone slimmer than they actually are.


 

And on reflection, this invention could be a girl's new best friend.
The Skinny Mirror uses curved glass to trick users into appearing up to 10lbs lighter, delivering a welcome boost of self confidence.

The concave curve in the glass has been specially designed to flatter, promising to give users a spring in their step after they see their fine-tuned reflection.
Graphic designer Belinda claims her invention, which is priced at around £116, is a safe alternative to cosmetic surgery and cosmetics - and says her motto 
is 'you only look as good as you feel'.


 

The company describe themselves as 'a new company on a mission to increase people's confidence and self-image with an every day traditional furniture piece that gives you a "not-so-traditional" perspective.'

After carrying out studies, the company found that our self-image is directly tied to our energy levels, feelings of competence and ‘perceived’ attractiveness.

'Nothing is more gorgeous than the self-assurance that comes from feeling good in your own skin.

'The Skinny Mirror compliments you every time you look in it, boosting confidence and improving self-image before you walk out the door,' they say.

'It’s the same feeling you get when someone tells you, “You look nice today”.
'Some customers claim with daily use of The Skinny Mirror, they have become less obsessed with losing weight and more focused on eating healthy and exercising, resulting in healthier and happier weight loss.'

As an avid surfer and health enthusiast, Belinda's was fed up with not feeling like she looked good in any of her outfits and believed she had a 'fat mirror'.
Although she knew it was the mirror that made her look bigger, she still found herself believing that she was bigger then she actually was.

 
 

She puts this down to body dysmorphia - a common condition where a person does not see what they actually look like when they look in the mirror.
She explains: 'I used The Skinny Mirror prototype for weeks before I committed to do start The Skinny Mirror company. 


'Over time, I felt how it affected my self-image. I stood up taller, felt sexier, and wanted to dress cuter. It was important for me to make this available to individuals so that they too might have an improved body-image

'The mirror has had plenty of attention online since it surfaced on the Kickstarter earlier this year, with some applauding it for giving women a confidence boost every day, but others saying it deceives

As Belinda states in her company philosophy on the website: 'If we can give you a little extra confidence before you take the world on in the morning, we’ve done our job.'

Critics of The Skinny Mirror - which is hand crafted in the United States - have said that it is a deception of what you truly look like.
One blogger known as The Shrinking Geek, wrote: 'Is it lying or motivating? I think it is both and the harm or usefulness come in its use.
'Stores that use these mirrors should be ashamed but for the average person, if you have a real truthful mirror and the Skinny Mirror, enjoy.
'Personally, if I had the money, I might get one because I think this is a safe little lie we can tell ourselves.
'So much of our day is filled with us hating ourselves in private that a secret mirror might be a the treat we need to keep going.

2face & Annie Idibia's 4 year old daughter makes Nollywood debut!

Four year old Isabella Idibia has followed her mother's footsteps

 



She made her acting debut this week in the movie 'Unconditional' produced by Uche Jombo. 


Pic Below: Isabella on set recently. 

 



Cute Isabella Idibia is obviously making her parents proud.