It is a story of resilience, going her entire life on one leg. Twenty-two-year-old Emmanuella Catherine Hayford, whose story of pain, climbing a three-storey building as an amputee to attend lectures at the University of Ghana was told on JoyNews in 2020.

She now has been fitted with a prosthetic leg to ease her walking, kind courtesy of the University of Ghana Alumni Association, North America (UGAANA).

The UGAANA was touched by Emmanuella's quest to quench her academic thirst despite her physical disability and swiftly moved in to assist.

The Association led by its President, Gifty Dankyi raised $6,000 to help Emmanuella's quest to walk normally in accessing knowledge.

How it all started

The story of Emmanuella Hayford’s struggle on the Legon campus was brought to light by a story that aired on JoyNews in July 2020.

The stirring video of her making way up to the 3rd floor for lectures on a particular day was shared on UGAANA’s WhatsApp forum by Dr Clement Ameho, one of its members.

Dr Ameho approached the UGAANA Executives about Emmanuella’s plight and they agreed to help especially as it aligned with the organisation’s Special Projects programme.

UGAANA’s Special Project programme is one of the association’s three core projects aimed at providing assistance to current University of Ghana students. (The Endowment and Scholarship Funds are the other two core projects.)

The fundraising campaign to improve Ms Hayford’s physical needs thus began in November 2020 and a decent amount of $6,000 was rapidly raised for the course.

Dr Ameho spearheaded the project with the assistance of Dr Awo Mana Asiedu, Head of the Office Of Students With Special Needs, Dr Sharon Affrifah of Food Process Engineering together with several others.

Emmanuella Catherine Hayford had her casting and measurements done on January 5, 2021, and gait training began on January 26, 2021. 

“Words will not be able to express the joy I feel inside but in all, I’ll say God bless them for their time, resources and energy.” she said.

She is thankful and appreciative to UGAANA for their incredible support and to JoyNews' Emmanuel Dzivenu for sharing her story.