Ailing Nollywood actor cries out, says he has been abandoned by his friends since his kidney diagnoses

ᴀᴄᴛᴏʀ, ʟᴇᴏ ᴍᴇᴢɪᴇ, ʜᴀꜱ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴏʟᴅɪᴇʀ ᴏɴ ᴅᴇꜱᴩɪᴛᴇ ʙᴀᴛᴛʟɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴋɪᴅɴᴇy ᴅɪꜱᴇᴀꜱᴇ. ɪɴ ᴀ ᴄʜᴀᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴜɴᴅᴀy ꜱᴄᴏᴏᴩ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴄᴛᴏʀ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ ʜᴀᴅɴ’ᴛ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀɴ ᴇᴀꜱy ᴛᴀꜱᴋ ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴍᴏɴᴇy ꜰᴏʀ ʜɪꜱ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ.

He said, “We give God the glory. I still go for dialysis three times a week. I did it yesterday (Wednesday) and I’m just coming out of the house now (Thursday) to get some fresh air.

“The fundraising that the Actors Guild of Nigeria was helping me with has been stalled as I have not been hearing anything from them. Right now, I am on my own, with support only from my immediate family. They raise money for me in turn, and that’s how I’ve been managing. However, the end goal is for me to get a kidney transplant, and the earlier for me, the better. Otherwise, I would continue to cough out money for dialysis. To get the transplant done in Nigeria, it would cost about N20m. I’m considering Nigeria because that is the best I can afford. The treatment would last for three months.”

Mezie was also optimistic that kindhearted Nigerians would come to his aid soon. He stated, “I don’t want to give up on life. Every day, I wake up and pray that someone somewhere would show me love and come to my aid. I am really hoping because I know Nigerians are very kind and helpful. However, they have to get the true story, to know who genuinely needs help. I also implore the media to tell my story, so that it can attract the right attention and people would know that I really need help. Many people are willing to help, but unfortunately, there are a lot of scammers out there.”

Asked if any of his friends had abandoned him to his fate since his health challenges started, Mezie said, “Let’s not even go there because it is heartbreaking. They are countless. However, I don’t feel disappointed because if someone who is your friend leaves you at your time of need, it means that even if he is with you, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to help. It’s better for such a person to leave you so that you can know how many people are with you. For those ones not showing any interest and who aren’t even bothered enough to call me, it only shows the kind of people they are. Anyway, I only look up to God, not man. And He has been there for me all the while.”