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.
For
assistance, call 0803 046 9665.
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