Ex-Eagles star Ebiede hospitalised in Port Harcourt, diagonised with Hepatitis, swollen stomach
Emmanuel Ebiede, a former forward for the Super Eagles, was diagnosed with hepatitis B and is currently hospitalised in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Late Tuesday night, images of the 47-year-old former international who had a bulging stomach went viral on social media.
Joy, the younger sister of Ebiede, said that club members had taken the former Flying Eagles player to the hospital last Friday.
“He is in BMH hospital in Port Harcourt but can’t talk properly now. He’s been here (hospital) since Friday, I came in on Saturday from Bayelsa State to look after him,” Joy said, when our correspondent asked to speak with the retired footballer on phone.
“His daughter called me that Daddy (Ebiede) was not feeling fine. So, I got here and saw his situation. It was his club members that rushed him to the hospital. Initially, it was malaria and typhoid, but his stomach got swollen.
“He underwent some tests to detect the cause of the swollen stomach. The test results diagnosed Hepatitis B. He’s not stooling freely, so I don’t know if that’s the cause of the swollen stomach.”
Joy said that Ebiede’s medical expenses were paid for by the members of his benevolent club and also noted that Ebiede had not been employed recently.
Joy added, “His club guys are always coming to the hospital to check on him and pay the bills.”
David Doherty, a resident of the UK who ran for president of the Nigeria Football Federation in the previous election, has started a donation account to help the sick Ebiede.
Donor contributions totaled approximately N150,000 as of the time this report was submitted, and Doherty additionally gave another N100,000.
In a post on Facebook tagged ‘Save Emmanuel Ebiede Now,’ Doherty stated, “Ex-international, Emmanuel Ebiede, is reportedly sick and needs urgent help. One hopes this help comes urgently.
“We wish one of our celebrated attacking midfielders a speedy recovery.”
Ebiede was one of the few bright spots of coach Fanny Amun’s “wobbling and fumbling” Flying Eagles at the African championship on home soil in 1995.
He earned two Super Eagles caps, making his debut on January 28, 1998, against Iran in a pre-World Cup friendly and playing under Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic.
Ebiede left his hometown team Sharks of Port Harcourt to join SC Eendracht Aalst in the Belgian First Division in 1995.
He first relocated to SC Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie in 1997, followed by stays in Israel and the United Arab Emirates (1999–2004). (2006-2008). After that, he went back home and played for Sharks and Bayelsa United. 2011 saw his retirement.
