Lekan Olatunji: I sold my cars trying to save my late wife from cancer

Lekan Olatunji, the Nollywood actor, has opened up on his struggles following the demise of Wunmi, his wife, who battled breast cancer.

Olatunji and Wunmi tied the knot in 2007 and they have three children.

Wunmi, however, died on September 14, 2023, after battling with a cancerous disease on her spine.

The mother of three was buried two days later in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

Recounting his experience on Biola Bayo’s podcast, Olatunji said he thought his wife had a reaction from her family planning procedure, only to later discover she had cancer of the breast.

The actor said she did not feel pain on the breast so they did not detect it early.

He said when they visited a hospital in Lagos, N12.5 million was demanded for surgeries while one of the procedures cost N5.8 million.

The film star recalled how he sold his two cars for N4 million in a bid to save his wife.

Olatunji said Wunmi died despite the millions spent on her surgeries and treatment for breast cancer.

“When we came to Lagos for the check-up, we didn’t even see any Nigerians, they were like apprentices there. Indians were the ones operating the machines. From there we were given the result and when we saw the result, it was cancer,” he said.

“But instead of reacting in her body, it hit her spinal cord. That was why she couldn’t walk again. Cancer of the breast, she just had something little there, but it wasn’t paining her.

“When I asked her, she said she asked from a matron and the matron said it was just a result of family planning because it does not react on her body.

“Even the doctors that examined her said her body ought to have started decaying, at the level that it was. They said we were going to do 2 urgent surgeries worth N12.5million.

“She looked at me and started crying. I said don’t worry, I went outside and started crying. N12.5m, where will I see it? So the whole family had to be involved because we couldn’t hide it anymore. We were about to fly her out, but unfortunately, we didn’t get a visa on time. Because the family head said we should bring her over to America, and the expenses would be deducted from his salary. If we don’t do the first operation to correct the spinal cord, she won’t be able to walk again. I sold two of my cars for N4 million.

“The first surgery we did was N5.8million, everything we spent was about N7.8million in Lagos and she was there for like two weeks.”