Nigerian actor Olayemi Jimoh, better known as Yemkem, has opened up about how a movie role almost left him paralysed after playing a stroke-patient character.
Jimoh shared this in a recent interview with Agbaletu TV, where he described how part of his body began to feel numb after he returned from a movie set and feared for his life.
He said the experience occurred about two years ago after he returned from a film location in Itoko, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“What I am talking about is from about two years ago. I went to a movie location and came back. I left Sisi Quadri and Okele at home then. I came back from that location in Itoko, Abeokuta, that night. My words were going out fast, my legs were shaking, and my mouth was moving sideways. The children asked what happened to me. That’s how I got into it,” he said.
“I had just shot a movie at that time. The title was ‘Jogodi’. At the end of the movie, my character had a stroke. By the time I got home, I noticed my legs were shaking; people told me not to downplay the situation. They told me it was not ordinary.”
The actor said he was advised to seek medical attention immediately, and a doctor later asked him to reduce body fat.
“The doctor asked me to reduce the fat in my body. He wrote some drugs for me. I gave him N450,000. As I was sick, I was still paying house rent. There were specific foods I was to eat,” he said.
Jimoh noted that although he kept his condition private but later went public when it unbearable, adding that the situation became so intense that he sold his properties, including his car, while seeking treatment.
“I did not want to make it public then, but I eventually did. There was this brother of mine who was acting that assisted me. That man and another person helped me find a solution. When the situation became tense, I had to sell my car for treatment. I spent all the money I had on it. I was seeking traditional medical help. I still feel pain in my hands and legs,” he said.
“I did so many things. I got an incision done by the teeth of a cobra.”
The actor also opened up about his current financial struggles, revealing that he is facing eviction from his home and can barely make ends meet.
“I no longer have money. The house I am living in now, the landlord died, and the children are already giving us signals to vacate the house. I still fought with a bike man just now. These things make me cry,” he added.
