Veteran Nollywood actress Eucharia Anunobi has opened up about the painful collapse of her marriage and the heartbreaking death of her only son, revealing how her former husband walked away after their child was diagnosed with sickle cell disease.
Speaking during an interview on The Honest Bunch Podcast, the actress recounted the emotional journey of raising her son alone after her ex-husband, Charles Ekwu, allegedly abandoned the family.
According to Anunobi, their son Raymond was diagnosed with the Sickle Cell Disease after he fell ill at about one year old.
She said the diagnosis changed everything in her marriage.
“When my son was about four years old, Charles packed his things and left,” she recalled. “He said he couldn’t deal with a child that is SS.”
The actress said she was left to care for their child alone and eventually filed for divorce two years later.
Anunobi revealed that she had initially considered ending the relationship after discovering that both she and Ekwu carried the AS genotype, which increases the risk of having a child with sickle cell disease.
However, she said her husband persuaded her to continue the relationship, insisting that they could still have a healthy child.
She said, “I told him that my genotype is AS because I have always known since secondary school. So I asked him to go and do his genotype test, as it were, and he did. And then it happened to be AS. That’s when I said, No, we can’t continue this relationship. Charles Ekwu, if you’re listening to me, or if you see this video, you know what I’m saying isn’t a lie; I’m not lying against you. He convinced me and said, ‘Baby, no,’ because he believed things would turn out differently.
“And that he doesn’t think, or have a sense, that he is also trying to check that some people can get lucky, that they have a baby, and it will be AS and not SS. He said I should not leave him; where would he start from? He loves me so much, he said, that he’ll be there, he’ll never leave, nothing he’s done matters. So he convinced me, and we continued.”
The couple eventually married in 2000 and welcomed their only child, Raymond, before their marriage nose – dived, ending painfully six years later, giving way to the battle of raising her son alone after Ekwu walked away.
Anunobi revealed that she became the sole provider for the family and personally handled all her son’s medical expenses as he grappled with sickle cell disease.
“I was the one paying the rent. I was the one doing everything. Charles never brought one naira,” she said.
Despite the challenges, the actress said she remained devoted to caring for her son and ensuring he received proper medical treatment.
Anunobi alleged that medical negligence contributed to his death during a hospital visit in Lagos. She explained that doctors had recommended a blood transfusion to boost his blood count. However, a student doctor mistakenly performed a blood extraction instead, removing three pints of blood.
When she returned to the ward, she noticed that her son had turned yellow and his condition had deteriorated.
Doctors later rushed him to intensive care, but he eventually died.
She recounted, “He turned 16, and we did not go to the hospital. At 16 years and five months, I travelled again, I think it was to London. When I returned, there was nothing wrong with him at all. I said, ‘Let’s just do his normal, regular check-up,’ so I took him to the hospital. The haematologist asked me, ‘Has he ever had a blood transfusion?’ I replied, ‘We only did it that initial time when he was young, just before his father abandoned us.’
“I told the doctor we did it when he was about three years old. He said that now that he was 16, he should have another blood transfusion to boost his blood count. I agreed. They then told me to go and pay for the blood, so I went out to make the payment. The doctor gave instructions to a student doctor, but instead of carrying out a blood transfusion, the student doctor performed a blood extraction, removing three pints of my son’s blood.
“It was becoming jaundiced, and that was when they said they wanted to take my son to the ICU. Long story short, the doctors arrived and brought oxygen. Long story short, that was how my son died. So my son died due to medical negligence. But I have come to understand that it does not matter how anyone dies, whether young or old; we are all going to die.
“And nobody will live forever because the word of God is my consolation. He lived for 16 years, six months and 22 days; he died on 22 August 2017. Today, by the way, happens to be my son’s birthday. That is one of the reasons I accepted this interview on 29 January. Today is my son’s birthday. I was praying, and I thought, ‘Wow, what a day.’ I am childless today, but I thank God. I have a few people who love me. I have a few people who call me mummy.
Reflecting on the tragedy, Anunobi said losing her only child left her childless but strengthened her faith. She added that caring for Raymond remains one of the most meaningful experiences of her life.
“I learned so much in the course of taking care of him. Those years were among the most glorious moments of my life,” she said.
Ms Anunobi said she had remained childless since the loss, but expressed gratitude to God for the opportunity to experience motherhood.
She noted that having her child for 16 years, six months, and 22 days remained a profound blessing, adding that those years stood among the most glorious moments of her life.
“I’m grateful to God for having made me a mother. And I learned so much in the course of taking care of him, deep in my relationship with God. And so I learned, like they say, the hard way.”
Narrating further, Ms Anunobi opened up about the painful realities of her past marriage to Mr Ekwu, revealing that she was the sole provider throughout their relationship.
She added that although her parents had warned her against marrying Mr Ekwu, she ignored their advice and later found herself bearing the financial responsibility alone.
Ms Anunobi added that she later had Raymond, who fell ill at the age of one. She explained that hospital tests subsequently confirmed that he had the SS genotype.
She claimed that Mr Ekwu abandoned both her and the child and left without looking back.
“He’s the same person who said he would be there with me through thick and thin. He’s the same person my parent said, ‘Eucharia, this guy is not it for you.’ I was the one paying the rent, I was the one doing everything. Charles never brought one naira. When I started the battle of my life, Charles turned,” she said.
