A fundraising campaign has been launched to help cover the treatment costs of an Alps Tour golfer who faces a long road to recovery after contracting bacterial meningitis while competing in Egypt.
Issa Nlareb Amang, 27, fell ill with the life-threatening disease during the Ein Bay Open in February and after withdrawing from the tournament he went into septic shock and was rushed to hospital.
Although Egyptian doctors were able to prevent the Cameroonian from dying, the severity of the infection led to Mr Amang losing the feeling in his hands and feet.
After three weeks in hospital in Egypt, the father-of-one was repatriated to his home country and taken to the General Hospital of Yaoundé in his home town.
But following a lack of improvement in his condition, and with the infection worsening, a decision was taken to move Mr Amang 4500 miles to Saint-Luc Hospital in Brussels, Belgium where his feet and hands would be amputated, and prosthetics would be set.
Following a series of operations by some of Europe’s leading Orthopedic surgeons, both of Mr Amang’s feet were removed, while three fingers on his right hand were amputated – and just his thumb remains on his left hand.
Mr Amang, a winner on the West Africa Golf Tour who began competing on the Alps Tour in 2017 after progressing through the Qualifying School in 2016, has been told by doctors he may walk again but they can’t confirm whether he will be able to grip a golf club again.
With his medical costs mounting, and with just the support of his French godmother Mr Amang currently does not know how he will pay his medical bills which are set to total ten of thousands of Euros.
“The situation is really hard,” said Estelle Richard, Chief Executive and Operations Director of the Alps Tour.
“In Egypt, he was covered by travel insurance, fortunately, and the insurance paid for everything, including his repatriation to Cameroon.
“In Cameroon, the national federation and the golf club of Yaoundé and some friends helped him financially but now, as he had been transferred to Hospital Saint-Luc in Brussels where they have the best orthopedic services in Belgium, the situation is very difficult as he has no insurance.
“For the moment, his French godmother made advance payments from her personal account and savings.
“She has spent all her savings to help Issa but she won’t be able to pay for the full amount with could be as high as €100,000.
“We know that Issa will try everything to play again. He is very strong mentally and I can say that when I saw him in Egypt, where I was in charge of the tournament, he fought with all his strength to survive the septic shock.”
To make a donation towards Mr Amang’s medical costs you can visit a fundraising page set up by the Alps Tourhere.
