Following the tragic demise of the former Newcastle midfielder, the Arsenal legend has cried out for better awareness on heart problems in Africa.
Two-time African Player of the Year,
Nwankwo Kanu has urged Africans to create more awareness on heart related disease following the untimely death of Ivory Coast international, Cheick Tiote.
The former Arsenal star recalled Cameroon’s Marc-Vivien Foe who slumped while playing for the Indomitable Lions against Colombia in the 2003 Fifa Confederations Cup and called for a more collective effort in tackling the health malady.
The 40-year-old who heads the Kanu Heart Foundation which is centered on helping kids with heart infections disclosed his plans to build five specialist hospitals across five African nations including Nigeria.
“I’m talking to friends so we can do something to create awareness to try to help children in Africa,” Kanu told BBCSport.
“Tiote’s death was not good news. It’s not the first time it is happening.
“We lost Marc-Vivien Foe. He died and nothing was done. Tiote is gone and nothing is being done.
“One man can not do everything. What happened to Tiote is a lesson to us all. We can’t let it go on like this.
“We should talk more about it, information needs to get out there because the problem is huge.
“Our dream is to build a hospital in Nigeria and four other countries in Africa.
“The funds have been the issue but if we can make it happen it’s going to help a lot because right now we are taking the kids to India and it cost a lot.”
Tiote collapsed while training with his Chinese second league side Beijing Enterprises on June 5.
