Rave music producer OJB and his wife Mabel have lost the three-year battle to save their third child Alicia’s life.
Three year-old Alicia who was born with three holes in her heart died in her sleep on Tuesday October 14 – nearly two years after she had a major heart operation in India.
Reliable sources told AyeniTheGreat that the couple are ‘‘devastated’’ and shocked ‘‘beyond words’’. Alicia, who had already started preparatory school and was bubbling with life, reportedly gave up the ghost at about 7pm while sleeping in the family’s Surulere-Lagos home.
It had been a tough battle for OJB, a quiet and withdrawn musician since his daughter’s situation became known in 2006. not one to source for public donation – the family needed at least $47,000 for Alicia’s complete treatment- the 41 year old producer sold his properties (including a land in Lagos) and exhausted all his savings, before approaching the Kanu heart foundation for assistance.
He eventually reached a mutually-beneficial accord with KHF, although details off the deal were not made public.
A hole in the heart is a congenital defect causing an opening between the wall (septum) that separates the right and left sides of the human heart. Such defects are corrected by open surgery usually performed after one year of age, before a child begins school .
