Life took a twist for 45-year-old bedridden Terkimbir Benjamin Tyough, in March this year after he sustained a spinal cord injury and had been unable to raise the required N1.5million for treatment to reverse his condition.
Tyough, regardless of his fate penultimate Saturday, caused a stare in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, when he wedded his 27-year-old wife, Christiana Ngumimi Terkimbir, in their one-room apartment at Welfare Quarters, Makurdi.
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He told our correspondent in Makurdi who visited their home few days after they tied the knot that the wedding was a demonstration of love for his wife who had stood by him since the incident happened on March, 7, this year.
Narrating his ordeal, the 45-year-old said he has been an electrician who helps his community whenever there are challenges.
“So on that fateful day on March 7, this year, I climbed an electric pole to help my community and in the process fell down. During the the nine months that I have been in this condition, my partner has stood solidly with me.
“I have been an electrician for 11 years and never experienced a thing like this. I was rushed to the hospital when the incident occurred but brought back home for my inability to pay the bill of N1.5 million demanded by the hospital management for surgery on my spinal cord.
“I’m appealing to good spirited individuals and the government to come to my aid so I can get medical attention.
The father of four children aged between 8 and 4, said he so much wants to be on his feet again to fend for his young family.
He explained that the decision to wed his wife was borne out of love, stressing that, “I love my wife. To further express it was why I wedded her.”
Corroborating her husband, Christiana, who sat on the floor while savouring a meal with two of her children in the unkempt room, grinned cheerfully as she nodded in affirmation that love was the main reason for their official wedding.
“I was excited over our wedding which took place last Saturday. We had been a couple for nine years before we decided to tie the knot.
“I feel so happy about the wedding. Since my husband came under this condition, it hasn’t been easy for the family but our neighbours have been of great help to us. They provide food for us most times because I’m not doing anything.
“But if I get some capital, I will be able to start a small business. However, I really need financial help to take my husband to the hospital,” the woman said.
A neighbour of the couple, Barrister Antaav Kume, attested to the hardship facing the young family just as he also appealed to good people to render help in whatever capacity they could so that living could be worthwhile for them.
Kume said the couple was even ejected from their former abode before a kind person offered them the present shelter which though isn’t befitting for the family of five.
The legal practitioner, who was instrumental to the wedding and had ensured the couple always get at least food for survival, believed that the ailing Tyough can bounce on his feet again if the spinal cord surgery is done.
“When this incident happened in March, he was first rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Makurdi, so they discovered he had issues that needed to be investigated and sent him to the National Hospital in Abuja for investigation.
“The result came out, showing that his condition could be reversed so the hospital asked him to bring N1.5million which he didn’t have and that’s why he had been lying down here without medication.
“I saw that the condition was so bad and decided to wade in to bring the attention of government, corporate organisations and the public to his plight. And since he has given his life to God and become a Christian, we organised the wedding which took place here at his house.
“We call on the government to come to his aid to assist him to go to the hospital. As you can see, the environment in which they are living is so bad. The house is a one-room apartment. She (wife) has no training and keeps dressing the husband’s wound; the children can also get infected because all of them are in that same room, Kume added.
Meanwhile, the officiating priest, Reverend Father Kenneth Agede, who joined the couple in holy matrimony had described the wedding as a true demonstration of love.
Agede in his remark during the ceremony appealed to Nigerians to assist the groom to get back on his feet by donating for the cost of his surgery.
He said, “It will be a shame to humanity, Benue State and Nigeria to leave this man to die because of N1.5million. This is not a deathbed wedding because his condition is not terminal. He can walk again and enjoy his marriage if we pay for his surgery.”
And so, the bedridden man’s wife summed up, “I love my husband and am committed to living with him forever despite his health condition.
“I have made my decision to live with him out of love. I am praying and hoping that God will touch the hearts of good people to sponsor the surgery of my husband, but even if that does not happen, I will love him to the end.”
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