The Olajide family, who resides in Akure, Ondo State, is seeking support for N20 million to help their one-year old daughter, Iremide Exalted Olajide, undergo heart surgery in India.
 
She was initially diagnosed at the ‘Mother and Child’ Hospital. The medical evaluation revealed that Iremide’s heart was murmuring, which was unusual and required immediate medical attention. At the ‘Mother and Child’ Hospital, the parents were advised to conduct another test at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo, to uncover the underlying defects.
 
According to the medical report, signed by one Dr B.S. Adeyefa, a Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile-Ife, in January 2025, the patient was diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries with the aorta and the pulmonary arteries lying side by side.
 
Iremide’s mother, Mrs Dolapo Aderonke Olajide, expressed her devastation upon learning that Iremide’s heart was damaged with murmuring arteries and large septal defects.
 
The surgery to correct the heart defect at OAUTH was estimated to cost N7 million in January 2025. 
 
Due to financial constraints, the family was unable to afford the surgery and was advised to seek treatment elsewhere.
 
Olajide reached out to Fortis Hospitals in India, which provided a cost estimate of N20 million for the surgery and associated expenses.
 
As a classroom teacher in Ondo State earning a monthly salary of N45, 000, she expressed the impossibility of saving such a significant amount for the surgery, even with 20 years of savings. Feeling desperate, Olajide’s medical friend, Dr Adaramola, suggested contacting  the ‘Gifting Volunteer Network,’ an organisation dedicated to raising funds for the sick.
 
Olajide is now appealing to well-meaning Nigerians to help save her daughter’s life by supporting the family on the fund needed for the life-saving surgery.

Since Iremide’s birthday, Olajide shared that she had struggled to find peace, managing her daughter with their limited resources, saying that she is now turning to the public for support, hoping that the meaning of  Iremide’s name, which signifies “help us to restore this glory,” will come to fruition.

The family could be reached on +234 806 380 3386, while donations can be made to Zenith Bank account No. 2054711831 under the name Iremide Exalted Olajide.