A former Vice President of the Actors Guild of
Nigeria and seasoned actor, Prince James Uche, is
still struggling to survive a strange illness that has
kept him off the screen for eight years ago.
To make matters worse, Uche’s landlord has just
served him a notice, ordering him to quit his
residence at 45, Yetunde Brown Street, Gbagada,
Lagos.
The ailing actor, who now spends most of his time
in the premises of a Catholic church near his
residence, in an interview with our correspondent
on Thursday, recounted how he found himself in his
present condition.
He said, “All I can remember is that something
struck me on the left side of my face about eight
years ago, when I was heading for the burial
ceremony of Pete Edochie’s mother at Nteje in
Anambra State. I had no idea what hit me in the
face, but it happened when I arrived at the junction
leading to the town.
“I got to the venue of the ceremony and stayed in
the town for two days. On the third day, I suddenly
found that I could no longer move my body freely.
Although I barely managed to get up on my feet, I
could not climb up the staircase.
“I had to wait till the following Sunday before
deciding to leave for Lagos. But my friend, Edoche,
persuaded me to follow him to Enugu where he lived
at the time. I slept in Enugu on that day. In the
morning I went for treatment in a hospital.
“After the doctor had finished examining me, he
stared at me with his mouth half open in shock for a
long time. When I asked what was wrong, he said I
should have been dead. He took my pulse again and
then, sweating, said my blood pressure was
abnormally high. He said it had risen up to 300 and
it was a miracle that I was still alive.”
The doctor also told the actor that, judging by his
blood pressure, he should have been dead or
paralysed. That was how Uche initially discovered
that he had a heart problem.
Although the doctor in the Enugu hospital prescribed
a certain drug for his illness and instructed to take it
for the rest of his life, Uche had thought it was
nothing to worry about and he hoped to recover
quickly.
Unfortunately, eight years after, the actor, whose
career has been seriously affected by the ailment,
is still battling for his life. Apart from spending all
his life savings on hospital bills and drugs, the
illness has cost him his marriage. It was gathered
that at a point, Uche’s wife was forced to leave their
matrimonial home because she could no longer
cope with the burden of taking care of him and their
three children.
Uche’s case has progressively declined over the
past years. Apart from suffering an undefined heart
disease, he is gradually losing his memory and
sight (he could barely glimpse our correspondent).
Also, to compound the actor’s problem, his kidneys
no longer function properly. With financial
assistance from members of his church – Our Lady
the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Gbagada,
Lagos – he was able to undergo five dialyses in
2013. Yet, it is feared that the kidneys may pack up
due to inadequate medical attention.
Apart from looking quite emaciated, Uche’s speech
is slurred and most of the time, incoherent. Some
members of the Society of St. Vincent of Paul in his
church were moved by his plight to care for him
three years after his wife left with their three sons.
A female member of the Society said that other
relatives of the ailing actor had virtually abandoned
him to his fate.
She said, “James Uche’s family has not helped his
situation at all. Maybe, if they had been around him,
his health would not have deteriorated this bad.
When his wife took the children and left, he was all
alone in their residence. Nobody visited him. None
of his relations, colleagues or friends visited him or
volunteered to give him his drugs until members of
the Society of St. Vincent the Paul decided to care
for him.”
Describing his present condition, she confirmed that
the actor’s blood pressure had been consistently
high, noting that at a point, some kind-hearted
people picked him up and took him to the General
Hospital, Gbagada where he was admitted in the
intensive unit for some time and made to undergo a
number of medical tests.
The lady continued, “The bottom line is that other
things came up. His kidney was seriously affected
and he had to undergo five dialyses in March, 2014.
From what we have seen, he is also afflicted with
diabetes. This is why he has been placed under a
strict diet. He doesn’t just eat anything. His eyes
are so impaired now that he could barely see
objects. We have even taken him to St. Mary’s
Hospital in Ago Iwoye, Ogun State. As it is,
everything is related to high blood pressure. The
ailment has seriously affected the organs in his
body, especially the kidneys.”
It was also learnt that members of the Society made
an effort to contact the Abia State Government,
through the representative of the Item Constituency
in the House of Assembly, for assistance to the
actor. But they said the person did not get back to
them.
Sometime last year, word reached the Actors Guild
of Nigeria that Uche was still seriously ill. A
delegation was sent to visit him in his home. He
was subsequently taken another hospital in the
Gbagada area of Lagos for treatment and placed on
health insurance, which gave him access to free
drugs. Ever since, the AGN has done anything else
to assist him.CKN
