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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
October 10, 2003, is a day Emori Daniel, a commercial van driver, who hitherto worked with a pharmaceutical company, would always hate to remember.
It was a day his joy faded into sorrow. No thanks to a terrible accident that damaged his spinal cord and left him incapacitated till date.
Daniel was taking bottled water packs to a customer in Onitsha, Anambra State, when his van ran into a stray cow on the road and lost control. By the time the dust settled, he found himself in a hospital with a damaged spinal cord, cuts and bruises.
Due to solitary confinement, he is battling bed sores and other skin problems threatening his life.
As the economic crunch bites harder, caregivers that hitherto helped him have been forced to go out and eke a livelihood, leaving him lonely, sad and dejected.
When Daily Sun visited him in a remote area in Bwari, a sprawling Abuja suburb, Daniel writhed in pain as he narrated his ordeal.
He is calling on good people to come to his rescue, as he needs N16 million to treat the life-threatening injury.
As each second ticks away, his hope of recovery wanes and brings him closer to the final gasp of ruin. Daniel’s story: “I am from Adadama community in Abi LGA of Cross River State. It was after my secondary school in 2000 that I travelled to Onitsha in Anambra State in search of greener pastures. I worked for two years but I was not comfortable with company work, so I went to a driving school.
“After learning how to drive, I started driving in different companies and organisations. I was employed by a pharmaceutical company as a delivery van driver. The company produced all kinds of products, including table water. That fateful day, on October 10, 2003, I just signed in that morning when one of our managers directed me to go to the warehouse and load the van with a large quantity of table water to deliver to a customer.
“When I got to her shop, I didn’t see her. After waiting for hours, I decided to drive back to the office. It was on my way back that I had an encounter with a stray cow somewhere around Fegge, beside the River Niger. It was in the process that I had this accident and I sustained this spinal cord injury. After the accident, I could not move any part of my body. I was rushed to a nearby clinic. It was from the clinic that I was referred to the teaching hospital in Enugu.
“It was at the teaching hospital, after a series of medical tests, that they discovered that I had internal injury, which is the spinal cord, at the end of the neck level. So, after some processes, I was discharged and since then I have been at home. I was at home till 2014 when I then moved to Abuja. Since I moved to Abuja, all efforts medically have not proven any positive result.
“Those that have been helping me since then till now are now also struggling to sustain their own families too, talk more of extending help to me. All the little assistance I have been receiving, I used it to pay for one month or two months of physiotherapy and when the little assistance is exhausted, I go back to square one. Since 2018, I have not gone for any medical treatment or physiotherapy. I even struggle to feed now. There are two women who are my neighbours that have been helping me daily.
“My parents and siblings are in Cross River State and they do visit once in a while. It was a communal crisis that made me leave there. They have all gone back but the community has not fully stabilised yet for me to return. We are eight in the family and I am the fifth.
“Since 2004 when I was discharged from the teaching hospital with recommendations for surgery abroad, I have not heard from the company that I was working for when I had the accident.
“There is an option for surgery that can guarantee me at least 80 to 90 per cent independence. Not that I will walk again but at least I will be able to do some things on my own. Because, right now, I can’t do anything. I have been lying like this for the past 19 years. I have been seeking funds for surgery for many years even from my local government area, but I have not been able to raise the money. The medical report is here.
“As of 2015 when the cost evaluation for the surgery was made, it was about N4 million but now it should be up to N16 million. If I can get the money for the surgery, I will be very happy. If not, all I need are my daily needs and some money to take care of the sores on my body to prevent them from further infection because, as they are now, they are exposed to infections.
“So, my problem mostly is feeding but if it happens God touches hearts of people to assist in the aspect of surgery, I will be eternally grateful.”
For anyone willing to help, Daniel’s bank details are: Emori Daniel, 2072008766, UBA.
