- Nigerian singer Nwachukwu Ozioko, known as Vast from the group Bracket, faced a health crisis in 2013.
- He was diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
- Vast discussed his experience on the AFRIMMA Podcast, highlighting the impact of his diagnosis.
Nigerian singer Nwachukwu Ozioko, widely known as Vast from the music group Bracket, has revisited his health crisis in 2013 when he was diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
Speaking on the AFRIMMA Podcast, Vast described the period as one he will never forget, crediting the support of his team who came together financially to ensure he received treatment.
“It was a time in my life I will never forget. The people around me showed me love. Normally after making money everyone gets their cut but during this period, everyone on the team brought their money together to treat me,” he said.
The singer explained that while cancer itself was challenging, the treatment nearly cost him his life.
“Cancer is not the problem, it’s the treatment. The process is deadly. They started with my spine and I don’t even know what they did to it. I was also asked to sign a form that if anything happens to me, I can’t hold them responsible.
“I nearly passed from the treatment. At some point, I lost so much blood that it affected my heart and I had to be admitted for blood transfusion.
“I was very skinny that you could see my ribs. It also made us spend a lot of money,” Vast recounted.
He further revealed that doctors initially struggled to detect the illness until a nurse recommended an ultrasound, which exposed a growth later confirmed in the UK to be cancerous.
“They ran several tests but still couldn’t find anything. It was a nurse who suggested doing an ultrasound, and that was when they discovered a growth spreading in my body. It was later in the UK that it was confirmed to be cancerous,” he added.
His partner, Smash, recalled being shocked by the diagnosis, especially because Vast lived a healthy lifestyle. He revealed that the delay in diagnosis worsened the situation, as doctors initially sent his blood samples to South Africa without giving results for months.
“After a while of him not looking himself, he went to one of the biggest hospitals in Victoria Island, Lagos. They started with blood samples but couldn’t treat him because they didn’t know what was wrong,” Smash explained.
“After some time, they said they had sent the blood sample to South Africa. We had a show in Burkina Faso, but because of his health, we had to send the money to Flavour to perform at the show.
“They said they sent the sample in September, but by December no result had been given. So I had to confront the doctor, telling him that if anything happened to Vast he would be held responsible. That was when he advised us to take him abroad.”
