David Omenukor Foundation is a health-based nongovernmental organization powered and driven by the passion of reducing or stopping the scourge and devastation of cancer in the world. The foundation does this by creating awareness and providing information on the necessary steps needed to combat cancer in our society. To this end, the foundation provides free colorectal cancer screening to rural and other underserved communities with no access to healthcare.
Cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide. The American Cancer Society 2016 estimates that 1,685,210 new cases of cancer and 595,690 cancer-related deaths will take place in the United States. In the same period, 57,740 new cases of cancer and 16,910 cancer-related deaths are expected in Asia, Africa, Native Hawaii and the Pacific Island. Similarly, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the USA. However, it is preventable, treatable and if found early can be cured, which lays emphasis on the fact that early detection saves lives.
The decision to establish this Foundation in 2014 was to immortalize my late husband David Omenukor whose untimely and preventable death in 2013 was caused by colon cancer. The late David Omenukor was a healthcare provider like myself and we provided quality healthcare to thousands of people, yet he succumbed to colon cancer.
The circumstances surrounding his death have forced me to realize that there was vital information on the prevention, and early detection of colon cancer that was ignored. This situation is still very prevalent and many more people carry on with their day-to-day activities oblivious of the danger of this disease, which is the challenge that the David Omenukor Foundation seeks to address.
As his family, we resolved that though he has passed on, he should never be gone since he was a good husband, father, and a patriotic citizen. Therefore, we decided that the Foundation should become a platform to create awareness about the dangers of colorectal cancer and get people to appreciate the benefits of early screening of cancer with the aim of preventing the fate that befell David, my late husband, from befalling anyone else. We are aware that many lives will be saved if you help us to accomplish the mission of the Foundation.