We took her to three hospitals but they couldn’t save her life-husband
Kunle AKINRINADE
Nothing exemplifies grief more than the mood at No 9, Musiliu Disu Street, Akesan, off LASU-Iyana-Iba Road penultimate. Heads shook in palpable heartfelt anguish. Tears flowed freely as fervent prayers poured from the lips of sympathizers for the beleaguered family over the loss of their matriarch, Mrs. Grace Osunwa.
Many of the sympathizers were members of the community development association who had come to commensurate with the husband of the deceased Mr. Anthony Osunwa on that day when the reporter visited.
An unforgettable day it was: Wednesday, April 27,2011. The family woke up in their usual manner to observe the Morning Prayer. Cunning devil! Just a few hours later, the unfortunate incident they never imagined befell them.
In a manner that bordered on the mysterious, the mother of four prepared some beans and fried plantainSW as breakfast for the family by herself. Moments after she ate the meal with her family she complained of rumbling stomach and all efforts by her children and neighbours to contain the situation yielded no fruits.
The situation compelled the family to contact her husband who had left home moments after eating the meal while efforts were made to ferry her to the nearby Alimosho General Hospital.
The Nation learnt that the 46-year-old Awe, Oyo State born deceased was taken to various hospitals until she was finally admitted at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi- Araba (LUTH) where she gave up the ghost before doctors could perform a major surgery on her.
The 52-year-old widower, a property developer puts it thus:”We usually have enough foodstuffs in our home because we buy in large quantity. So, on the fateful day my wife cooked the beans and fried plantain which we ate including the children before I went out. Not long after the meal, she complained of rumbling stomach and surprisingly her stomach started swelling,’’ he explained.
“I immediately contacted the family doctor whose intervention could not save the situation and it was the doctor who suggested we take her to the nearby Alimosho General Hospital”
At the Alimosho General Hospital, the family was told that no doctor was around to attend to the deceased from where she was thus referred to Ikeja General Hospital where again she was refused admission because of lack of bed space.
Hear him: “When we took her to Alimosho General Hospital, we were told that no doctor was on duty, hence, we were referred to Ayinke House tucked inside Ikeja General Hospital. There, they told us that they had no bed space. She was then referred to Railway Hospital in Ebute-Metta. We were asked to deposit N20,000 which I did and all kinds of drugs were prescribed which we bought. At a point the doctors said they would carry out surgery on her and I was asked to deposit N16,000 which I immediately paid to save her life. Surprisingly, that very night they again explained that the hospital lacked the necessary facility to carry out such operation and instead referred her to LUTH at 1 am.”
Like every other person in such situation would, Osunwa immediately took hold of his wife and rushed her to LUTH in the dead of the night.
“I did not even mind that it was late already because it was around 1am that doctors at the hospital explained to me that it was risky carrying out such operation since they lacked the necessary facility. By the time I took her to LUTH it was around 3am where doctors said there was a need for an urgent blood transfusion. They said that they don’t have blood at the hospital and I was asked to go back to Ikeja General Hospital to purchase blood and I promptly did so hoping that her life could be saved.”
“But before the blood could be transfused, my wife died, I believe that if my wife had received prompt medical attention she wouldn’t have died and the incident is rather a sad commentary on the state of healthcare delivery in Nigeria where people die because of lack of prompt medical attention. Imagine, there was no clue to what was wrong with her yet they kept prescribing all kinds of drugs which we bought. As a matter of fact, we had to return drugs worth N44, 000 after she died and it’s rather very painful we lost her’’ Osunwa said.
Recalling the fond memories of his wife, he said:” I never believed that she could leave me so soon. We never quarrel for a day. She was unassuming and a very caring wife. She stood by me when things were bad and we have been married for 27 years now. It’s so sad she died when things are beginning to look up for me.”
“When we moved into our residence, some years ago, the whole place was a jungle and all kind of animals ranging from monkeys, antelopes and poisonous reptiles roamed around here freely. Besides, this area was under the constant grip of armed robbers and the situation almost forced me to relocate from here. But she always encouraged me to be patient that things would get better. My second daughter, Ngozi, who is a final year Banking/ Finance student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has just come home on a short break not knowing that she had come home to bury her mother.“
“As a mark of honour whether the cause of her death was detected or not she’s going to buried in one of the rooms in my house because we suffered together when things were very bad for us. She did not mind the fact that I am an Ibo when we met and she practically did everything possible to raise the children amidst our inadequacies back in the days.”
“If she had eaten the meal alone one would have suspected a foul play but we all ate together and everyone is hale and hearty. I shared in the same meal including the children and nothing is wrong with me. You can even see her children; they are all okay but I know that everything is open before God because her death still remains a mystery to me,” he added.
Meanwhile, doctors at LUTH are trying to unravel the cause of her death while her remains have since been deposited at the mortuary.
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