In all the melee that was going on, the two gentlemen in the black SUV got in their vehicle, and sped off, tires screeching. I screamed for help, but within seconds, every single vehicle, including the one that brought in the passenger who now lay lifeless on the ground had disappeared from my premises. In that moment, my General Manager drove in with some goods he had gone to purchase in my black F150 Truck.
I instructed my manager to rush the young man to the hospital, but something fundamentally life changing transpired there.
Now, I must take you back to 2009. Recall that this incident was unfolding in May 2010. In 2009, while the facility was under construction, I was sitting under the mighty tree on the hill, the same spot I was sitting as this nightmare was unfolding in 2010. Suddenly, a Trailer stopped on the road in front of my property. The driver came out, shouting for help. He was in a panic. I walked up to him to ask what the problem was.
Apparently, his assistant, his motor -boy had passed out. They had been traveling from Ghana for three straight days, heading to Onitsha market to deliver some goods. The motor boy lay there, lifeless, but he had a pulse. He looked emaciated. I asked that he be loaded into the back of my black Truck, the FI50, and I sped off to the hospital. Upon getting there, I thought I was in America as I shouted “emergency, emergency.” There was no response. All the nurses stared at me with bland expressions until one of them probably realized that I might be an ignorant man, and she said to me, “Oga, make you go pay for card first.”
I was furious, but I complied. This was not the time to try to prove anything. Someone’s life needed to be saved.
About then, a senior nurse, the Matron came out. I quietly introduced myself as a new guy in town doing some construction work for a new restaurant. I explained to her that the victim was a complete stranger to me but that I would be responsible for his treatment. He was admitted. He spent 7 days in the hospital, all bills paid by me.
This was the background story to what eventually transpired in May 2010. My General manager explained to me that when they got to the hospital with the victim, nurses turned them back, claiming that the fellow was already dead. The same matron from a year earlier, stepped outside, upon hearing all the commotion, and she said upon recognizing my F150 truck —- “No. Don’t turn them back. This vehicle belongs to that good man who brought a stranger here last year and paid all his bills. Let’s try, and see what we can do.”
They brought out the lifeless body, and summoned all their resuscitation techniques to bring him back to life.
His name is Emeka, (Not the real name). His brother came to Ore the following day along with a relative. I put them up in a hotel as their brother was in hospital with a suspended leg.
Meanwhile, the police had come to my premises to arrest their errant colleague, and put him behind bars. He was subsequently transferred to Akure for trial.
Emeka was making good progress at the hospital when his relatives said they wanted him transferred to Federal Medical Center in Enugu. They wanted him nearer home. I objected that instead, since it was a broken kneecap problem, he should be taken to Igbobi orthopedic hospital in Lagos. They insisted that they wanted to go home. I gave in, but I knew I was going to regret that decision. I chartered an ambulance, and paid for two attendants to accompany the ambulance to Enugu.
The next time I heard from the family, the boy’s leg had been infected with gangrene. His leg was amputated.
He was a footballer on his way to Europe to play professional football.
I’ve thought about Emeka for 14 years. I lost touch with him and his family. I wonder what he is now doing with his life. I hope this story gets to his relatives, and to him.
I would like to see how he can get help, but again, knowing the Igbo ethnic group, and their tenacity, and the way they rally to help one another, I would not be surprised that Emeka might already be a very successful man.
The End.
Since my very first time of meeting you, i knew you’re a passionate person and willing to help, may God the rewarder remember you always. Surely he may be or not, but you’re able to save his life.