'I owe my life to the NHS and want to say thank you', says woman on national TV
A woman from Walsall who claims she owes her life to the NHS has been spreading its virtues in her native country and saying 'Thank you Britain.'
Yaa Victorine Ngamsha – or Vicky – is originally from Cameroon but came to the UK to get married in 2001, moving to Birmingham in 2007 and Darlaston a year later.
The 51-year-old lost five of her brothers and sisters to kidney related disease in Cameroon but it wasn't until she came to the UK that it was diagnosed as a genetic condition.
She was treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QE) in Birmingham for a Polycystic kidney, eventually having a transplant in September last year.
Vicky said the care she received there, and at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton afterwards, was 'unbelievable' and she has appeared on television in Cameroon in recent days to tell her story.
The mother of three is a singer, dancer, motivational speaker and a graduate in Business and IT from the University of Wolverhampton, where she also obtained a doctorate.
She has released a music video on her Facebook and YouTube page entitled 'Thank you Britain.'
Vicky is holding a mass of thanks tonight (Saturday) for all the hospital staff, family and friends who have helped her followed by an evening reception at a social club near her home –
She said: "I have received nothing but first class treatment from the NHS since I came to the UK, originally to Southampton in 2001 and then the West Midlands seven years later.
"Back home in Cameroon I lost five brothers or sisters to kidney disease which wasn't diagnosed as hereditary, indeed I didn't know until I had the Polycystic kidney and it was discovered then.
"The care I received at the QE before and during the transplant was incredible and the after care at New Cross the same. I would say I owe my life to them.
"Nothing was too much trouble during the whole process and all the staff from those in the kidney unit to the doctors, nurses porters and everyone were wonderful.
"The NHS often gets a bad press and it has its problems but in Cameroon I would have had to pay up front for all the treatment I received and I know it would not have been any better than that I received here, probably not as good."
"I want to give something back so thought I would hold a mass and reception in the evening where the staff who treated me or helped me are invited."
The mass will be be held at St Josephs Catholic Church in Wolverhampton with the evening reception at Darlaston Sports and Social Club from 7pm
