Former Nigerian boxer, Jeremiah ‘Jerry’ Okorodudu has survived a coma but still cannot stand, according to his wife, Adenike Okorodudu,
Okorodudu suffered a mild stroke attack and and had extreme difficulty speaking, before subsequently falling into a coma while at Dan’s Hospital in Ikorodu, Lagos.
Adenike told The PUNCH that the ailing Olympian is now feeling better following a series of transfers that have now brought him to Lawanson Lagos Private Hospital.
“He can talk now, he is better here than he was before we brought him in. He was in coma before and can now talk and raise his hands up, but he cannot stand.
“We were previously at a hospital in Ikorodu but the doctor said we should transfer him to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, but when we got there, there was no space. They then transferred us to Lagos University Teaching Hospital, before someone brought us to this place because he was almost gone then, he was in coma. So, I didn’t have any option but to take him somewhere to receive treatment because I cannot lose him, I don’t want to lose him,” she told sources.
However, due to a lack of funds, the Okorodudus may be forced out of the hospital at Lawanson as Mrs. Okorodudu cannot afford the bill of almost N1m.
“Today (Thursday), we got some assistance to gather some funds to give to the doctor, and he said if we didn’t pay the remaining sum, he is going to push us out. Now, we need N450,000 and by next week, we will need to pay the remaining N500,000. In total, we need N950,000 now,” Okorodudu’s wife told The PUNCH.
In a video online, Okorodudu, who represented Nigeria in the men’s boxing event at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, by ex-boxers and boxing coaches and referees, asked for help from Nigerians.
“My fellow Nigerians, my name is Jerry Okorodudu. I was a Nigerian boxer, I am very sick and in the hospital. I need your help, please. Help me, I cannot walk,” Okorodudu said.
