Saturday, February 4, 2012

This girl needs N800,000 to save leg • One leg amputated after Okada accident


From www.tribune.com.ng

Olamide Awofade
NEITHER the 15-year-old Olamide Awofade nor her parents had premonition of ill-luck that befell Olamide on the morning of Thursday, March 4, 2010.
Olamide, a brilliant and promising Junior  Secondary School 1 student of Idita Grammar School, Ile-Ife, had a fatal accident and if  care is not taken may truncate her ambition of  becoming a respected Nigeria citizen  in the future.
Olamide who had spent the last 22 months shuttling between her home and the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, (OAUTH) Ile-Ife, Sunday Tribune gathered, had not been able to go back to school, following the loss of one of her legs.
According to Olamide, “On Thursday, March 4, 2010, my father, as usual, took me in his car to drop me at  our school and I was full of life for the day’s study.
“My father had not left, he was  watching me hanging  the rope of  my bag on my shoulder. While doing this, a commercial  motorcycle operator popularly called okada, came to where I was standing and knocked me down.
“Immediately, I lost consciousness. I didn’t know what happened again. But when I woke up, I felt a terrible pain on my two legs,  I discovered that the bones had broken. It tored the flesh, everybody could see it. The Okada  man that kocked me down did not wait and has not bothered to look for me.While my left leg was amputated, the right leg is not even better after undergoing  many surgical operations.
Nothwithstanding,what God has destined for  me in life will definitely come to pass.  My parents have been borrowing to offset my medical bills. Because I am still feeling pain in the leg,the doctor said the leg would have to be operated again. I am appealing to everybody within and outside this country to please assist me.”
Coroborating her claims, the father, Mr Solomon Awofade said the incident was like a nightmare to him because he lost his senses at that moment.
He continued, “I watched the Okadaman  coming towards my daughter who was not standing on the road with high speed. If the Okadaman had faced his  front as he was riding the okada, he would not have left the road to where my daughter was standing to knock her down.
“The Okadaman was looking back even as he was going at high speed and by the time he faced the front, he was close to my daughter and eventually knocked her down.
He pretended as if he wanted to give helping hand  to lift  the girl up, but he immediately sped off. I have not seen him since then.”
Mr Awofade, 38, who is a commercial driver, took Olamide to a traditional home in Ile-Ife that specialises in bone setting because workers of the OAUTH were on strike.
However, on Monday 8 March, 2010, Mr Awofade took Olamide to OAUTH because the strike had been called off. The father narrated further, “Olamide fainted immediately she was knocked down, I had to revive her.
“When we got to OAUTH, the doctor said the left leg was ‘dead’ and had to be amputated. As for the right leg, the doctor said it had been affected by tetanus and operations must be done to save it. So far, the leg has been operated eight times.  An iron was used to hold the leg together.
“I have resorted to borrowing when I don’t have any property to sell again in order to raise money for the medical bill of Olamide.
“Few days ago when she complained of pains on the leg, I took her to see the doctor handling her case at OAUTH and the doctor said the leg has to be operated again If she is not to lose the only leg.
“The doctor said we were to pay  N800,000 for the operation. We would also need money to buy drugs and other sundry things. The doctor also told us that we should deposit N250,000 for purchase of artificial leg.

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