Actress Kemi Afolabi has revealed the harrowing ordeal she faced while battling lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks its own organs and tissues.
In an interview on Doyin Kukoyi TV, Afolabi recounted how, at the peak of her health crisis, she was unable to eat or drink, relied on oxygen to breathe, and even prepared for the worst by purchasing a burial site and writing her will.
She credited her survival to God’s grace and the unwavering support of her family, friends, and colleagues.
Afolabi said her struggle began with severe joint pain “more intense than childbirth,” which led to multiple misdiagnoses at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). It was only after seeking medical care abroad that she finally received the correct diagnosis.
She said, “When I was down with Lupus, I thought the end had come. I couldn’t eat or drink. I was using oxygen to breathe. I already bought where I would be buried, and I wrote my Will, but God said it was not yet time to go. I survived with the power of God, the support of my family, friends and colleagues. Lupus has killed a lot of people. I had never heard of it till I experienced it. It is an autoimmune disease that will make your body’s system work against itself. The organs will not function properly
“When it first started with me, all the joints in my body gave me intense pain. Childbirth pain is a little compared to the pain of Lupus. They were diagnosing different diseases for me at LUTH until I travelled out and was told it’s Lupus. Lupus has no cure, I am still managing it with medications. I travel abroad every now and then because of it. I get an injection every day. I can’t be under the light for a long time like I used to when acting. People were saying so many things, but the one that got to me most was when someone said I have been used spiritually.”