As a child, Tolulope Sangosanya was told that she might not live longer than the age of ten.
"My fear of dying? I left it behind in that church," Tolulope Sangosanya, a woman who found life in the face of death told Pulse TV in a documentary about her life.
She is the founder of the LOTS Charity Foundation, an organization which has positively affected the lives of 5000 children since its inception. Her interest in the well-being of others was inspired by a past of horror themed by a constant reminder that she might die at 10.
It all started for Sangosanya as a child from a traditional Yoruba home with so much belief in spiritual entities, a feature that defines the concept of being African. Her father had invited an Ifa priest into their home to conduct a "spiritual checkup", that was the beginning of a childhood nightmare for the 35-year-old woman who was told she was in a firm grip of death.
Irrespective of the counseling she sought, be it from a pastor and other figures in the business of divinity, it was still the same outcome – they all submitted the same prognosis, she might die if not fortified with an intensive spiritual protection.
A feeling of alienation by her family encouraged Sangosanya to write her father to express how lonely she felt while dealing with her circumstances.
"I just hated being alive like what exactly am I doing here? I remeber writing a letter to my dad when I was in JSS2, and I was asking him that erm, I didn't feel like a member of his family.
"Six years old before I knew that his image they recording in my head that this is your dad. Until I was six I didn't know, it was somebody else that I thought was my dad and I really love that man because that man showed me what a father was supposed to be."
In addition to her spiritual and family struggles, a young Sangosanya also experienced a reading disorder known as dyslexia.
This factor contributed to a slow learning which manifested in her child Basit who could not write the English alphabet at the age of 11.
Thanks to the intervention of his parents, he was able to improve "tremendously" on this after being withdrawn from a public school to a privately owned academic institution.
"I remember that I said earlier, I am not going to die while I am alive. I refuse to die of fear.
"In fact, every day when people are afraid of dying, I wake up and I smile – I am waiting for that day very well. I am so expectant of the day I die but I am going to die empty," Titilope Sangosanya told Pulse TV confidently while speaking of her new found energy and resolve to be useful to her society despite the premonition of death that was shared concerning her as a child.
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Her childhood affliction introduced in her a desire to help challenged people, who have seen their chances of success limited due to the problems created by their environment.
Sangosanya represents a member of crop of individuals who by an act of selfless devotion, are bringing comfort to those who are not able to afford one by default.
Inspiring Story: Meet Tolulope Sangosanya, a woman who found life in the face of death (Documentary)
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