I drank urine twice daily for six months as purported cure for strange ailment on spiritualist’s instructions
A 23-year-old Delta woman, Efezino Patrick, shares with GODFREY GEORGE how she was supposedly harmed at age 13 and experienced stomach enlargement, which caused her persistent torments for quite some time before help at last came
Educate us concerning yourself.
I go by Efezino Patrick. I’m from Agbarha Otor people group, Ughelli, Delta State. I’m 23 years of age. My mum and father are separated. We’re six children in the family – two young men and four young ladies. I didn’t complete auxiliary school. I halted at SS 2. I needed to stop since I was harmed by somebody around then and needed to languish over seven years before help came.
When precisely did this occur?
Everything started one day in March 2013. I just got up one morning with a horrible stomach hurt. I told my mum and she said, maybe, I was going to see my menses. I was around 13 years of age around then. Be that as it may, the throb didn’t stop. It deteriorated and I was unable to try and walk. I was essentially asking for my life. It was unbearable. In this way, my mum went to the drug store, got a few medications and I took them. The aggravation died down a little so I could rest. The following day, I awakened to see that my stomach had become hard for the time being. It was presently distending and was like I was pregnant.
How did you respond when that’s what you saw?
My mum immediately hurried me to a close by facility for clinical consideration. Tests and sweeps were done however the specialist didn’t appear to recognize anything from the clinical assessment. He advised my mum to look for elective conclusions from strict houses. He, be that as it may, gave me a few medications to quiet the pains.On hearing this from the specialist, what move did you initiate?
That very day, on the grounds that the aggravation didn’t stop in spite of the medications and my stomach had expanded in size, my mum chose to bring me to a local back home to likewise figure out what was happening. That was where the profound healer said I was harmed by a family member. My mum didn’t accept that since I was just 13. How could anybody need to harm me? In this way, she brought me back home. Yet, she then reviewed that a minister had let her in a congregation know that she ought to be cautious since there was an arrangement by a relative to harm me and obliterate my predetermination.
Did you trust any of this?
Truly, I couldn’t say whether I trusted it or not. I was excessively youthful to frame an assessment. I felt discouraged and forlorn in light of the fact that I was unable to go out once more. I needed to quit tutoring. I just remained at home and tied a covering around my bosom. I seemed to be a lady who was moving toward her due date for conveyance. The aggravation was unexplainable. I wanted to end my life.
My companions then considered me a wide range of names. One of the local specialists even said I was a witch and requested that I admit. I was beaten and compelled to admit to what I didn’t know anything about. It was a truly tough time for me. I endured.
How strong was your family through this time?
I had the option to get through all that in light of the fact that my mum and kin never abandoned me. They remained by me and accepted all that I told them. In spite of what individuals said they saw about me, my mum never trusted them. She would tell them, “My girl isn’t a witch. She is wiped out and she will improve.” She even lost her marriage due to me.How do you mean?
She was not with my organic dad when this situation occurred. They had isolated. She was remarried to my stepdad. He was the person who left when the circumstance became desperate. He said he was unable to adapt to all that. He was in any event, blaming my mum and kin for being witches since they would not completely accept that the prophets and soothsayers who guaranteed that I was a witch from the hidden world.
Did these mystics uncover who precisely harmed you?
They said it was a relative. I don’t want to make reference to her name. They said she was disturbed I planned to school, and that she had seen my fate and needed to ruin it. I truly went through some serious hardship. Indeed, even my previous colleagues, who were currently in college, quit conversing with me. They hawked all types of bogus bits of hearsay about me. I cried day in and day out yet nothing changed.What different mediations did you look for?
One of my mom’s companions took me to one mystic whom they said was extremely strong. He said I ought to drink my pee each day when I awakened and in the night prior to resting. I did that for quite a long time however there was no change. They provided me with a wide range of leaves. One home grown organization, Greenlight or something like that, used to bring drugs for me. They charged me N40, 000 each fortnight yet nothing different. We needed to go to one more mystic who made little markings with extremely sharp edges all around my body, saying he needed to remove the animosity. I would be completely conscious and he would strip me exposed and start the custom. I would endlessly cry yet I had the expectation that it would work. Subsequent to making those cuts on me, he would apply some peppery substance on the injuries however everything didn’t work. One more mystic then, at that point, utilized canine excrement and liquor to make a local medication for me to drink. I drank it for quite a while, as well, however it changed nothing. They additionally utilized frog and charcoal to make drugs for me to likewise take yet it didn’t appear to be working by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, I turned into a sorry excuse for myself. I was getting more slender as a result of the numerous things I was taking. I became dependent on liquor since every one of the medications I took had alcoholic substance.
How could you be ready to subsidize these remedies?My mum sold every one of her coverings and adornments. Her business collapsed up. She turned into a business rancher. My kin who were more seasoned were likewise supporting in the little manner they could. My natural father was not in the image. He was hitched to another lady and was essential for individuals who said I was a witch. All through that period, I didn’t focus on him. I couldn’t say the amount we spent looking for a solution for this issue. It probably run into millions. What church did we not go to? What mystic did we not visit? What medical clinic did we not go to for help? We even went to a famous church in Lagos and got some heavenly water for a tremendous aggregate however it didn’t work the slightest bit. There was no cure I didn’t look for in that frame of mind aside from the one I didn’t have the foggiest idea or was not acquainted with us.
When you saw that nothing was working, how could you feel?
Truly, I just let myself know that I had attempted. I realized I did nothing to anybody to merit that much aggravation. At the point when I was 19, I just let myself know that I was worn out. I quit going to every one of those places of worship and otherworldly homes. I chose to look for God for myself. I supplicated all alone and perused my Bible in my home. I started to feel that I was in good company in that fight. I felt to some degree ameliorated.
How could you get fix?
During the hour of my sickness, I never saw my menses for one day. I didn’t have any idea what it seems like to go through that month to month cycle. At some point, while I was home alone, after much supplicating, I felt a sharp torment in my stomach. It resembled my chance to bite the dust had come. I heard a voice in my mind telling me not to move since I wouldn’t survive the ordeal. I was so apprehensive. I peered down and saw that I was dying. Thick dark blood was emerging from me and I was crying since it was agonizing. I continued to yell and my mum came and helped me. She tidied me up. Later on, I figured out that it was simply me seeing my menses since it streamed for a really long time before it halted. The fact that my supernatural occurrence was close to makes me upheld. It was during that time that one of my family members admitted that she was the one that harmed me utilizing juju (dark wizardry).
How has everything turned out back to typical?
On one of those occasions when I was home, I just chose to go for another output. At the point when I told my mum, she dismissed it since I had done north of 100 distinct outputs however nothing was seen. What made me so certain this one could be unique? I simply didn’t have the foggiest idea however I chose to do it all alone. I got some cash from somebody and went to the clinic and told the specialist on the job I needed to do a sweep. The specialist, who knew about my case, giggled and alluded me to one more center in the wake of doing his own assessment to satisfy all exemplary nature. My mum wouldn’t go with me. She said there was compelling reason need. At the point when I arrived, I was checked and the lab researcher said he could see something. He drew it on a white paper. It resembled a stone or some likeness thereof lying in my stomach. Simply that it was made of tissue. He advised me to return to the main clinic which was an expert clinic to direct the operation.What was the response of the specialist when you returned with an output outcome showing that you had something in your tummy?
He didn’t trust it. He continued to inquire as to whether it was truly from an emergency clinic. He looked at and observed that it was genuine. I was then planned for a technique where I paid over N250, 000. It was finished on a Saturday in September 2019. It was effective. The specialist was stunned to such an extent that he named me Testimony. The specialist said on the off chance that not that he was the person who had observed me from when the circumstance started, he could never have accepted that I would be okay.
What did this experience educate you?
That’s what I discovered, throughout everyday life, confidence in God matters a great deal. You needn’t bother with a minister to lay hands on you before you accept your marvel. You can move toward God without anyone else. This experience likewise instructed me that it is just when things are terrible that you can perceive who your actual companions are. Many individuals left me when I really wanted them the most. I additionally figured out how to never surrender.
From your photos, you actually have scars and overlap on your belly region. Does this cause you to have an unreliable outlook on yourself in some cases?
It used to now and then yet I am dependably certain. The scars are essential for the recollections that I have. My sweetheart preferences me how I am. He even believes me should wear garments that will show my scars to the world. He is pleased with me. I simply need to figure out how to be pleased in my own skin once more. This present circumstance took my young life from me.
Do you have plans of returning to school?Yes, I do. I will take WASSCE one year from now. I was unable to enlist for the final remaining one. I’m into cosmetics and style. I wa