Deep Breath at Nine Elms
CWU (Communication Worker’s Union) Voice June 1998
It may not be a ‘miracle cure’, but colleagues of CWU member Jerry
Yamoa say his asthma remedy really works. And hay fever sufferers aren’t
sneezing at it either. Kay Holmes reports.
At the Royal Mail centre in London’s Nine Elms, there’s an unofficial
medical test going on that could take the sneeze out of summer for thousands
of asthma and hay fever sufferers.
Jerry Yamoa, a phg at the bookroom in Nine Elms, has a natural remedy for asthma
based on a secret recipe passed down to him by his Ghanaian grandmother, Akua
Asirifia.
“She lived to 107 and the doctor in her village used to refer patients
with asthma to her for his cure,” says Jerry. “Eventually, after
I pestered her a lot, she told me which tree it was that she used.”
The Yamoa powder is basically the finely ground bark of a particular type of
tree found only in Ghana. As such, it’s a totally natural remedy, though
Jerry has no idea why it works.
Jerry contacted CWU Voice after reading about a member disciplined for having
to take time off due to asthma. Despite some scepticism where medicine and money
is involved, it was hard to discount the 20 or more people who crowded around
Jerry at Nine Elms to confirm that they or their loved ones had been helped
by his mystery powder.
Reeta Gujadhur , a phg at Nine Elms for five years, told how her daughter Karuna
had had asthma since she was 18 months old. “The doctor had given her
inhalers, but I was worried about her taking steroids, so I tried Jerry’s
powder last year and she’s been fine ever since.”
Postman Kantilal Kerai was diagnosed with asthma three years ago. “I
already had hay fever, then one day I started getting chest pains and the doctor
told me it was asthma connected to my hay fever. I was given Ventolin (a common
asthma medicine), which didn’t work, then a stronger drug. I was taking
those for a year and just getting worse, then a colleague suggested I tried
this Yamoa powder.
I used to put it in tea. That was two years ago and I have had no symptoms
of asthma since. I had chest pains, wheeziness, eyestrain, shortness of breath.
It’s all gone. I feel so much better.”
Phg Selma Carr endured the misery of hay fever for three years. “I’d
never want to go through that again,” she shudders.
“The doctor gave me this pump, but it didn’t really work. Then
I was talking to Jerry one day and I started taking his treatment last year.
It’s May now and I used to have to start taking sprays for hay fever in
February, but I’m fine and it seems so natural.”
Postwoman Margaret Amissah was also reassured by the naturalness of the powder
when she gave it to her eleven year old daughter Anastasia. “She had asthma
and very severe hay fever in summer – really badly itchy eyes and she
really is cured now.”
George Gyamfi, a postman at Nine Elms, had difficulty breathing and medicine
prescribed by his doctor was no help. He mixed some Yamoa powder with honey
and says: “ my problems had disappeared by the time I reached the last
spoonful and I’ve not had any since.”
Fellow Ghanaian postman Vincent Larbi had no hesitation in trying Jerry’s
powder when his wife suffererd from hayfever and asthma. “Herbal remedies
are quite usual in Ghana, so she was quite happy to use it, and her asthma and
hayfever have disappeared.”
One of the most unusual features of Jerry’s powder is that it seems to
be a one-off treatment. One bottle mixed with honey or water lasts around a
month and apparently banishes asthma or hay fever entirely, as opposed to the
lifetime of steroids and other drugs required by a conventional medical approach.
Jerry has tried and failed to get large drug companies interested in his product
– and he has the perennial problem of lack of financial backing to get
the Yamoa Powder tested as a medicine himself.
But he hasn’t given up and another company has expressed interest in
marketing his cure as a health food.
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