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Vast, a member of the Nigerian R&B duo Bracket, has opened up about his near-fatal battle with cancer.
The singer, whose real name is Nwachukwu Ozioko, was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer of the blood, in 2013.
During a recent interview on AFRIMMA Podcast, Vast described the period as one he will “never forget”.
He revealed that the unwavering support of his team was crucial, as everyone pooled their financial resources together to fund his treatment when he needed it most.
“It was a time in my life I will never forget. The people around me showed me love. Normally after making money everyone gets their cut but during this period, everyone on the team brought their money together to treat me,” he said.
“Cancer is not the problem, it’s the treatment. The process is deadly. They started with my spine and I don’t even know what they did to it. I was also asked to sign a form that if anything happens to me, I can’t hold them responsible.
“I nearly passed from the treatment. At some point, I lost so much blood that it affected my heart and I had to be admitted for blood transfusion.
“I was very skinny that you could see my ribs. It also made us spend a lot of money.”
Smash, the other half of the group, said he was shocked by Vast’s diagnosis considering his healthy lifestyle.
He recounted how doctors struggled to identify the illness, delaying the diagnosis for over three months after sending his blood samples to South Africa without results.
“After a while of him not looking himself, he went to one of the biggest hospitals in Victoria Island, Lagos. They started with blood samples but couldn’t treat him because they didn’t know what was wrong,” Smash said.
“After some time, they said they had sent the blood sample to South Africa. We had a show in Burkina Faso, but because of his health, we had to send the money to Flavour to perform at the show.
“They said they sent the sample in September, but by December no result had been given. So I had to confront the doctor, telling him that if anything happened to Vast he would be held responsible. That was when he advised us to take him abroad.”
Vast further revealed that it was only after a nurse suggested an ultrasound that doctors discovered what a “leaf” growing in his body, which was later confirmed in the UK to be cancerous.
“They ran several tests but still couldn’t find anything. It was a nurse who suggested doing an ultrasound, and that was when they discovered a growth spreading in my body. It was later in the UK that it was confirmed to be cancerous,” he added.
Source: The Cable
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