Dutch woman pays for deported woman's treatment

A terminally ill Ghanaian woman who was removed from a Wales hospital and deported has begun having vital treatment in Ghana, thanks to a Dutch woman.

"Why do we always have to depend on the goodwill of foreigners? It beggars belief that our politicians who paid $20,000, just to take part in party primaries, did not see it fit to help this woman" said a Ghanaian living in UK

"This would have been a good opportunity for them [politicians] to show they care about Ghanaians" - he continued.

39-year-old Ama Sumani came to the UK five years ago and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in January 2006.

Until last week, she had been receiving dialysis at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. Sumani was in the UK on a student visa but was unable to enrol on the banking course she wanted to take because of her lack of English. She started working. Although her visa had expired by the time she was taken ill and she had contravened its conditions by seeking employment, her solicitor made representations for her to stay in the UK on compassionate grounds because she could not afford life-saving treatment in Ghana.

Sumani's kidney dialysis she was having in Cardiff prolonged her life, and her supporters feared she would not be able to pay the costs in Ghana. But three months' treatment has been paid by a Dutch woman living in Wales.

According to the BBC, Ms Sumani's supporters in Wales are now confident that the mother-of-two will be able to find additional funding for more dialysis after that has been completed at the capital Accra's Korle-Bu hospital.

Janet Simmons, a Cardiff-based supporter, said she hoped the therapy, needed to keep her friend alive, will begin soon.