Monrovia – Eleven-year-old Divine Luke risks amputation of a leg that was wrongly injected by a careless nurse.
Mae Azango [email protected]
According to Gifty Douglas Luke, mother of Devine, her son’s problem started in September 2011, when he was just four. He had gotten sick with fever and she took him to Benson Hospital on Du-port Road in Paynesville.
“When we got there, his body was very hot so the nurse decided to give an injection that she said was meant to cool the temperature. After a while, when it was time to go home, the boy could not walk again. At first I thought he was joking. I carried him on my back till we got home and from then on, he just could not walk again but started crawling,” Gifty narrated.
Little Divine, who has been out of school for two years because of his condition, is among the many children who turn up handicap due to some medical malpractices carried out by many untrained health practitioners in big hospitals or little clinics.
Few months ago, this newspaper reported that a one-month old baby boy (Baby Boy Sesay) born at the Redemption Hospital in New Kru Town, Monrovia, June 9, 2018, risked amputation as a result of alleged medical malpractice, done by the hospital nurse.
After several efforts his parents had tried to make to seek a second opinion outside the country, he was amputated above the ankle at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center in Monrovia, where he was referred.
Narrating further, Gifty stated that what surprised them most was when they went back to the Benson Hospital to seek redress, the head doctor paid no attention to them.
“When we went back to the hospital to tell the doctor what had happened, the doctor’s only response to us was that he had sacked the nurse, who gave the baby the injection.”
She stated that in trying to save her son’s leg, she took him to a hospital in Ogun State in Nigeria and they were referred to Abeokuta Hospital, Federal Medical Center, (FMC) and later sent to Igbobi Hospital in Yaba.
“We did the test and X-ray. We were told that his situation had turned into cancer of the bone. They gave me another letter to go and do another test in MeCure, Oshodi. When I got there and gave the paper to the woman in charge, I was told to do other tests on his chest, and the affected part of the leg and the cost was 150,000 naira equivalent to US is US$500.”
According to her, the 150,000 naira or US$500 was only to run the other tests to see how far the cancer has spread and which part of the body it has affected. And because she did not have the money for the test, she went back home.
Her going to Nigeria to seek medical assistance was sponsored by her brother, Pastor Ezekiel Douglas and his church, the House of Testimony, in Brewerville
The confused mother, who was teary as she explained her son’s condition to this newspaper, further stated that Devine does not sleep, but cries in pains from morning until night.
“This is why I am begging for help from any kind hearted individual and humanitarian organizations to please help me save my son’s life, because he is suffering too much,” she stated.
Anybody wanting to help can please contact her brother Pastor Ezekiel Douglas of the House of Testimony in Parker Corner, Brewerville or on his cell number 00231777822105.