If you think celebrities are immune to pain and heartbreak, you are wrong. The truth is that at the end of the day, they are regular people just like you and me and they all have their share of tragedies. Some of them have lost children which they claimed was due to negligence of some doctors.
Saturday Beats lists some popular entertainers who have had to deal with loss of loved ones, no thanks to the poor Nigerian health care system.
Eucharia Anunobi
For close to two decades, popular screen diva, Eucharia Annunobi, has succeeded in planting smiles on the faces of millions of Nigerians through her interpretations of various roles. Sadly, on August 23, 2017, the actress had no reason to smile as the cold hands of death snatched her only child from her. Although it was widely reported that the child died due to complications from sickle cell anaemia, in an exclusive chat with Saturday Beats, she revealed that her son’s life was cut short due to negligence on the part of Nigerian doctors.
She said, “My son was a good boy to me, but he was mistakenly killed by the doctor. My son was not supposed to die. He was a very wonderful child. I have been dealt a severe blow but God has been holding me up. God has said that I should not walk by sight but by faith. So I am not looking at the event that has surrounded me. If I begin to look at the event, like Peter in the bible, I would sink instead of walking on water. My son died in my hands because it was a mistake by the doctors. My son is gone physically but not spiritually, so casting blames would not mean anything. People have told me to sue but my faith in God and his spirit and his word that is in me say that nothing happens without God’s consent. So I would prefer that we let sleeping dogs lie.”
Mr. Ibu
No doubt, John Okafor popular known as Mr. Ibu, has carved a niche for himself as a comic actor. In fact, he is so good at his act that mere looking at his face is enough for one to burst into laughter. However, there was nothing funny to the funny man in 2011 when he lost his two-year-old son due to what he called the negligence of the hospital staff.
He told Saturday Beats, “On January 18, 2011, my son fell ill. He was diagnosed with inflammation of the liver. The hospital suggested that he should be scanned. At the same time, I was informed that I could take my son out of the hospital to get the scan done elsewhere. But the same people later declined, saying that everything had to be done in the hospital because he was too weak to be taken outside. After a while, I was told that there was no electricity in the hospital. When I asked if there was no standby generator, they said there was no fuel in it. I offered to pay for fuel only to be told that the man that operated the generator was not around. When I left the place and got back later, the man still had not returned.
Then I was advised to write an application and submit to the admin department. That was how my son died. Later, one of the doctors came to me and without even sympathising with me, asked if I could release my boy’s corpse to him so that they could cut it open and use it to teach other medical students. At that moment, I felt like committing murder for the first time in my life. When I told my lawyer what happened at the hospital, he was shocked. He said it was actionable. Due to the severe blow, I received because of the death of my son, I told him that I was ready to take the hospital management to court and sue for $100 million in damages because my son’s death was caused by the carelessness of the professionals whose duty was to save his life. But my lawyer advised me to let go.”
Nora Nkiruka Ugo
A popular American public speaker, Les Brown, once said, “The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is there that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered.”
Right now, the late budding actress, Nora Nkiruka Ugo, is housed at a graveyard as her fast-rising career was cut short due to a doctor’s misdiagnosis. On January 30, 2018, it was reported that the actress died of a fatal pulmonary embolism after uterine artery fibroid embolisation, simply known as fibroid treatment surgery.
Her trouble reportedly started last year when she was experiencing heavy menstrual flow. She consulted doctors who kept giving her painkillers, unknown to them that the actress had developed a huge fibroid that necessitated an urgent surgery. She reportedly went under the knife to get the fibroid removed only to develop a complication that manifested in form of overwhelming pain and shortness of breath hours after the surgery.
The source said the doctors did everything possible to save her life before she slipped into a coma. She reportedly had respiratory and cardiac arrest before doctors administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her. Sadly, when there was no cardiac activity throughout the CPR, it was discontinued after sometimes before she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy later confirmed that she died of pulmonary embolism. While expressing her condolence, her colleague, Ruth Kadri, took to her Instagram page and wrote, “You were that girl that made my life change, you were that girl that made me laugh a lot. You were that girl that I got so mad at. You were that girl that was a friend to all. I spoke to you last week. You were the strongest sick person I know. I’m hurt by your death. My head still aches. Wish death was a thing that could be undone.”
Tope, Yomi Gold’s friend
Going by the Instagram post of popular actor, Yomi Gold, on November 7, 2017, it is wise for Nigerians to seek medical assistance abroad. The actor made this call after he lost a friend in a Nigerian hospital due to medical negligence. He made this observation in a video after losing a friend named Tope, who he believed died based on the poor expertise of doctors who handled the procedure. The grieving movie star could not hold back tears as he lamented the sudden passing of the deceased, who died at a young age. The clip saw the actor berating the rate of unskilled personnel in the field of medicine.
According to the actor, anyone with a high financial capacity should make a medical trip their preference so as to ensure they receive the best care. In a post, he further wrote, “I am sorry this might get to some professional doctors but who knows the real professional when it comes to visiting those hospitals in Nigeria. My friend is gone because he decided to have his operation done in Nigeria. Too young to depart from us. Tope, this is sad. I pray God should give his families a great strength to hold this down. I love u ore mi atata.” -Punch.
