Kanu Heart Foundation plans to step up its activities with ultimate goal of building hospital

FORMER Super Eagles skipper Nwankwo Kanu has pledged to step up the work of his Kanu Heart Foundation (KHF) during the course of 2020 pointing out that there are 200 children on the waiting list for transplants.

Established to help under-privileged African children and young adults, the KHF seeks to get cardiac operations for those with heart ailments. Over the weekend, Kanu visited the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri, the Imo State capital, where he revealed that the foundation has saved 565 children following successful open heart surgeries over the last 20 years.

Kanu, who was in Owerri to celebrate Christmas with patients in the hospital, stating that about another 200 ailing children were currently on the waiting list for surgeries. He lamented the increase in heart-related diseases, noting most sufferers knew little or nothing about the symptoms.

“Kanu Heart Foundation was established in 2000, so far so good for us. We have done 565 open heart surgeries since the foundation came on board and these are mainly the less privileged children but we have 200 patients on the waiting list.

“In the last three years, we have been going to hospitals to celebrate Christmas with patients in hospitals across the country. We decided to do this year’s own in the southeast with Abia and Imo the main targets,” Kanu said.

Furthermore, Kanu added that the foundation was working towards building a hospital in the country because of the huge logistics including transportation, surgery and rehabilitation of victims. Earlier this year, Kanu named the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi as a grand patron of the KHF during a visit to the monarch.