Deported cancer patient arrives home

Accra, Jan 11, GNA - Ama Sumani, 39, a Ghanaian woman who was undergoing treatment in the United Kingdom after cancer damaged her kidneys, has been flown back to Ghana by UK authorities, accompanied by two British Immigration officers and a medical Doctor.

Ms Sumani was taken by officials from a hospital in Cardiff where she had been receiving dialysis for a year after cancer damaged her kidneys. According to a BBC report Ms Sumani, whose visa had expired after staying in the UK for five years, said she could not afford the treatment in Ghana.

The report said the cancer Ms Sumani was suffering from, malignant myeloma, would ordinarily be treated with a bone marrow transplant. It said Ms Sumani was not entitled to this in the UK because she was a foreign national.

The report said Ama Sumani first went o the UK as a visitor in 2003 but changed her status to that of a student.

According to the report, her inability to speak English had prevented her from pursuing a banking course for which she had enrolled at her city college, causing her to find a job which contravened her student visa.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport, Ms Sumani said she hailed from Zabzugu in the Northern Region and had no relatives in Accra.

Ms Sumani said she had not informed any relative of hers of her arrival, adding that even her two children who were staying with a friend of hers as well as the friend had no idea that she was in the country. The doctor accompanying her said he could not disclose the ailment she was suffering from but added that it had been certified that Ms Sumani could continue with treatment in Ghana.

When asked whether she was being deported, one of the immigration officers accompanying Ms Sumani said, ''this is more of a removal.'' Sources at the airport said Ms Sumani would continue with treatment at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.