In the typical traditional African setting, children are considered
as must-haves for families and protection for old age, when the parents
can no longer provide for themselves. Many people have dreams of
raising a family, with as many children as they could care for.
Therefore, the loss of a child is a big blow and a huge setback for many
parents.
Sadly, that is exactly the situation Esan Oladotun is grappling
with. A video of the 38-year-old technician, who hails from Ado-Ekiti,
Ekiti State, but resident in Benin, Edo State, wherein he lamented the
loss of two children, went viral on Instagram.
When our correspondent traced him to his residence located off
Redeemed Church Road, off Sapele Road, Ekae, a suburb community in Benin
City, the distraught man had yet to come to terms with the reality of
his situation. He was still asking if his 13-year-old daughter,
Oluwatunmise, the beginning of his generative power, was truly dead.
Just two days before the death of Tunmise, Sandra, his wife, who was
eight months pregnant, lost the baby.
Narrating his ordeal, Oladotun said his travails began with the
loss of his unborn child who died in his wife’s womb about two weeks to
his delivery, only to be followed by his 13-year-old daughter, Tunmise, a
Junior Secondary School 3 pupil of Anointed Academy School. Tunmise
died three days after the loss of the pregnancy.
Oladotun said Tunmise, who was preparing for her Junior School
Certificate Examination (aka Junior WAEC), was the one giving him
emotional support when his wife was undergoing surgery to remove the
dead baby inside her.
He said: “I have been living with Sandra, my wife, for 18
years. We had three children and she was pregnant with our fourth child.
I also have a stepdaughter.
“When the pregnancy was about seven months old, water began
coming out of her. We went to see her doctor, and he recommend that she
should go for a scan. From the scan, it was discovered that the baby was
not in the right position. But the doctor assured us that everything
would be fine. But even after treatment, the water was still coming out
of her till last Monday, when the water began to smell. By this time,
the pregnancy was already about eight and a half months old. “
According to the bereaved father, when on Monday, penultimate week,
the smell from the water became unbearable, they decided to go back to
the clinic, and she was promptly placed on admission. The following day,
the result of another scan indicated that the baby had already died
inside her and had to be evacuated by surgery. Thus, their fourth child
was lost.
“After the removal of the dead child, I could not stand the
sight of it, so I asked my mother-in-law and my stepdaughter to take it
away for burial,” Oladotun said.
Meanwhile, Tunmise had been showing some symptoms of malaria and
had been taking medication at home. But by Wednesday morning, she began
to complain of body pains, especially in the ribs.
“I decided to take her to the clinic to see her mother and also
get treated by the doctor. At the clinic, a laboratory test indicated
that Tunmise had typhoid fever and malaria and she was promptly placed
on admission in the same ward with her mother. She was however
discharged the following day.
“On Thursday, her condition changed and got worse, so we went
back to the clinic. Again, some injections were prescribed for her.
After taking the injection, her breathing changed, but the doctor
assured us that everything would be fine. So, I left for home that
evening, leaving my daughter and her mother in the clinic.
“As I was leaving, I jokingly told Tunmise to get well quickly
so that she would enjoy the things my mother brought from Ado-Ekiti for
her or else I would eat them, and she told me she would get better soon.
“At about 4am the following day, Friday, I received a call that
my daughter was in distress. She could no longer breathe and was
bleeding from her nose, so she was being taken to the state-owned
Central Hospital for treatment.
“When I arrived at the hospital, I called to know where she
was, but was told that she had been referred to the University of Benin
Teaching Hospital because there was no electricity at the central
hospital. I was told that at UBTH, the doctor demanded money for oxygen
and I told them that I would get money from the ATM at UBTH when I
arrived there. But on my arrival there, I was told that my daughter had
already died,” he narrated.
Thus, in three days, Oladotun lost his 13-year-old daughter and
unborn child who perhaps could have been born in another one week or
two. Little wonder that the man wept uncontrollably in the video.
“Imagine losing two children within three days. My wife is
still at the clinic recovering from the surgery. She has yet to be told
that her daughter is dead. I wanted my daughter to be buried
immediately, but my wife’s relatives are insisting that an autopsy
should be conducted to ascertain the actual cause of her death.”
The bewildered father said his late daughter was everything to him. He described her as a kind and lovable person.
He recalled, “My daughter was one of the best students in her
school. She was already preparing for her ‘Junior WAEC’ exam. In her
last class examinations, she had distinctions in all the subjects she
offered. She was also in the drama group of Living Faith Church.
“She is the kind of daughter any parent will wish to have. She
was frugal with money. Many times, she would save the money given to her
to use to buy food and willingly give it to me to buy fuel for the
generator, whenever I didn’t have any money on me. She always told us
not to lose hope when we were having issues with the pregnancy.”
Reminiscing about his dreams and aspirations for his late daughter,
Oladotun said he always told Tunmise how much he wanted her to study
hard, read law and perhaps become a judge. Unfortunately, sudden and
untimely death cut short that dream.
“I always wanted her to become a lawyer and maybe become a
judge. That was my dream for her and she was actually studying hard for
it,” Oladotun said.
Oladotun, however, had some harsh words for the government and
those running health facilities in the state. According to him, a lot
has to be done to improve the way things are done at government
hospitals.
“Honestly, I don’t know what they are doing in those hospitals.
Imagine telling us that they didn’t have diesel to run their generator
and demanding money from us to buy fuel for the generator before they
could attend to us. It’s like they don’t care about people, human lives
don’t mean anything to them. Government must do something about it,” he lamented.
***
Source: Punch Metro
My condolences to you and your family
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