A dad-of-five battling aggressive bowel cancer has told of his heartbreak after losing his wife to the same illness. Devastated friends of Omena Ubiaro fear his young boys could lose both their parents within weeks of one another.
Omena, 38, had been battling Stage 4 bowel cancer for two years when wife Makeda was diagnosed with the disease last August. Makeda, also 38, underwent emergency surgery but could not be saved by doctors and died on July 29.
Her death during Omena’s battle with cancer has sparked fears for the couple’s five sons, aged from seven to 19, as friends launched a fundraising page to support the family.
As part of the appeal, Omena said the death of his beloved wife and the ongoing fight against cancer is the “toughest thing” he has ever dealt with. So far, more than £8,000 has been raised.
In an emotional video filmed from a hospice in Wolverhampton, where Omena is receiving round-the-clock care, the grieving dad appears gaunt as he is hooked up to machines from his bed.
Omena said: “I just want to say thank you so much to everybody that has been supporting myself and my family. Recently, myself and my five boys we’ve just lost my wife, they’ve lost a mother and I’ve also lost a best friend as well.
It’s been difficult for the boys, it’s been difficult for myself. I cannot lie it has been the toughest thing that a husband and a father’s ever had to face or deal with but it’s only been easier with support and help from friends.”
Omena and Makeda met when they were teenagers at St Francis Xavier College in Clapham, South London. They married in 2004 and moved to Birmingham in 2009. In 2014, the couple decided to renew their wedding vows when Omena was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer.
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