By Fatai Ahmed
Former Nigerian boxer, Jeremiah Okorodudu is dead. Jerry,as he was popularly called, died at a private hospital in Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos on Wednesday night.
He had battled with foot ulcer which came as a result of diabetes and was for weeks bedridden . While battling with the foot ulcer, Okorodudu suffered a stroke which left part of his body paralysed, thus compounding his health woes.
He was to have undergone a surgical amputation of the affected leg on Saturday.
The late commonwealth boxing medalist’s wife, Adenike, confirmed the news of his death.
Adenike revealed ,however that the hospital where her husband died was not willing to release his corpse because they were owing N600,000 ” The hospital is refusing to rellease his corpse until the outstanding N600,000 medical bill is paid.
“He is dead now but we still need to pay N600,000 to get his body out of the hospital”, she said.
Okorodudu who aged 64, was feeling better last week according to reports. He was moved to different hospitals across Lagos by his family due to inability to raise funds for his treatment..
Okorodudu represented Nigeria at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games, where he competed in the middleweight category.
He was a gold medallist at the Oluyole 1979 National Sports Festival in Ibadan.
His medical predicament began in 2020 with a boil affliction that affected his mobility. He then had a successful surgery at Dans Hospital, Ikorodu, Lagos.
But his health condition relapsed after he was diagnosed with foot ulcer and suffered a stroke.
