Comedian and Actor Lawrence Gwako famously known as Kokoto Lijodi has come out to appeal to Kenyans and his fans at large to help him raise cash to enable a bone marrow transplant for his 13-year-old son who is ailing from Sickle-cell Anaemia.
The comedian who is a household name for the Daktari show, Hullaballoo, and Vioja Mahakamani has said it has been hard for him to cater to the son's treatment in the last two years after the Covid-19 pandemic came and made everything to be at a standstill.
Speaking exclusively to K24 Digital, Kokoto said the doctor recommended that the boy be taken to India for the transplant by the latest August this year which already elapsed.
The boy, Wisely Obama Gwako, who is a Class Seven student at Kariobangi South Primary school has at some point been forced to lag behind in education as most of the time when his condition deteriorates, he is forced to be out of school for medical attention.
"Currently he is not attending classes because the spleen has enlarged and made his stomach enlarge. The condition had also made him have gallstones which are supposed to be removed through surgery," Kokoto explained.
Kokoto Lijodi reveals cost of treatment
He explained that there are a variety of medicines that his son takes to help reduce the pain daily and with no job that pays him monthly, it has been difficult to cope with it.
"During the last medical checkup after the boy was admitted at Maina Lucy Kibaki Hospital, the doctor recommended that he should undergo surgery for the removal of the spleen and vaccination as well.
"The surgery is estimated to cost between five to six hundred thousand Kenyan shillings and the vaccination/immunization twenty-five thousand two hundred and seventy-five Kenya shillings.
"The total cost will be about Ksh625,275. But this will only help for a while. We have been advised to travel to India for the Bonemarrow transplant which helps up to 80 percent as he will be able to live a normal life, though as a career," he added.
He has called out other people who have their family members or themselves suffering from the condition to come out and be ambassadors of hope saying it is not the end of life.
"I know there are a lot of myths about sickle cell anemia but one thing I want to tell those living with it is that it is not the end of life. Let them not believe in what they hear but keep hope and all shall be well," he said.
