A group of Nigerians concerned about the plight of children with acquired or congenital limb loss has inaugurated a Non-Governmental Organisation called The IREDE Foundation to give succour and relieve to the children and their parents by providing them with artificial limbs to enable them to live well and move freely.
As part of activities to create awareness for children living with this condition and to attract attention of the government and socially responsible organisations as well as philanthropic individuals, an awareness walk tagged “ Out on a Limb “ will be holding come the 9th of April 2016 in Lagos.
Last year’s walk was well attended by over 600 people, including celebrities like, Ali Baba, Reverend Victor Adeyemi,Adenike Oyetund
“For the first time we will be creating awareness simultaneously in 30 different locations within and outside Nigeria. Within Nigeria we have Ikoyi, Ikorodu, Abeokuta, Enugu, Owerri, Uyo, Asaba, Abia, Benin, Kano, Kaduna, Warri, Jos, Ile-Ife, Abuja and Ibadan while outside Nigeria we have Johannesburg, Malaysia, Ghana, Paris, Atlanta, Chicago, London, Turkey, Nairobi and Germany. The IREDE Foundation will continue to stage “Out on a Limb” annually to create public awareness to the plight of child amputees,” one of the organisers said.
The IREDE Foundation was founded in 2012 by Crystal Chigbu, mother of 7 year old Irede Beulah Chigbu, who was born with congenital limb deformity, as a means to assist indigent children living with limb loss gain access to prostheses that would enable them live independently.