'Like evening
Darkness sets on the souls of men
And lingers on forever
Complete darkness'
So Friday night, the worst happened just when I thought I would experience some calm.
After spending about thirty minutes at tawala, I decided to satisfy my craving for the night; urban taste fried rice. Apparently, urban taste had moved from their old location on the main Dzorwulu-Perez chapel stretch of road so we had to make a U-turn to get back to Shaka Zulu. My friend and I decided we would not go and make another U-turn just to get to Urban taste. Emil decided to park across the street by J.A Plant Pool. As usual, it was total darkness in that part of Accra and the traffic lights were not working.
I chose to stay in the car because my ankle hurt after I hit it against a shrub in the sands at tawala. He did not return with the food and I was expecting to hear that we would have to wait for a while for the food but instead, he was in a haste to move the car. I had a packed night and could not wait to get home to freshen up and go wherever. 'We have to go to the hospital, a guy just got knocked down by a vehicle', he told me.
I was stunned to learn the driver had sped off after running him over.
Getting to the hospital was such a struggle. I kept looking back at the taxi which followed us closely carrying the victim. I could see his head move from time to time in the back seat. It was such a relief knowing he was still alive. We finally got to the Police Hospital and my friend rushed out of the car to go to the O.P.D. I got out to go stand by the taxi by the victim. A close look at his face sent shills down my spine. He was crying out in pain. His left arm was broken and disjointed from its main socket joining it to his shoulder and even in the black and white long sleeve shirt he wore I could see that he had lost his arm.
He cried out in pain. 'Help me, is this my end? Eric... help me please'. 'Sorry' was all I could manage to say. I did not know what to say to him. I began to cry but realised I needed to be strong for the man in this situation to know that it wasn't over for him and that he was going to be fine. 'God help me, God help me. My arm is broken...' I started to say a prayer for him. I said to him;'yes , keep calling on God, he's the only one who can save you. Call unto him, he can hear you, he will heal you.You will be okay.' 'Okay' he replied. I began to pray. I decided to ask him; 'what's your name please? ' 'Eric Gyamfi.' 'Is there someone I can get in touch with for you, like a relative?' 'Yes, please check my phone.' The taxi driver told me his phone had fallen down at the exact spot where he got knocked down. I asked if he could recall anyone's number but he said no. So I asked, how do I locate his family. He said to me that he was a Pastor and showed me the exact location of his church. I quickly saved the information on my phone. 'You are a pastor, you know God can see you through. Please hold on to your faith. Speak to your God. I trust him to see you through. ' When I said this, I meant it.
I kept praying for him as I stood beside him talking with him. Some nurses had closed and were going home. They also came to speak with him. Consoling him. Yet those who needed to take care of him would not. All this while, he still sat in the taxi and fifteen minutes was gone since we arrived at the hospital. I got upset with the slow nature of the entire procedure. They just came and leered at him and then went back. They came again to say the place was full up. The final time, they came to say he should walk to the O.P.D because there was no stretcher available. I asked the nurse how a man with a broken leg and an arm off could walk. He got my message because I was getting upset and he just disappeared and came back with a stretcher. Getting him out of the car was such a task. I had to turn my back to them because I couldn't stand watching him suffer.
Emil had to get him a hospital card and pay before treatment could commence. Treatment only commenced after twenty minutes after we arrived at the hospital. Then I stood watching them treat him from the glass doors. They were so close I could hear them. The only thing separating us: the doors. The man was still conscious. He seemed to have relaxed a bit once they had commenced treatment. I watched as they shaved his head apparently due to the cut. I watched as they put drips on him. I watched as they cut his shirt inorder to have access to his arms and clean him up. To me, not much was being done yet he seemed calm now. He was no more crying out in pain.
My friend stepped outside and asked me to go with him. He had with him Eric's wallet. Just then, something fell onto the floor. I watched as Emil picked it up. It was his wedding band. 'Bad man' Emil said. We both burst into laughter. 'Oh no, he says he's a pastor.' Oh well, at this point I needed him to get better and not judge him. I had to be the witness here as they went through his wallet. We found a piece of paper with some numbers written on it and decided to try them. Perhaps we could reach Eric's family. We called the first number and he said he was in Kumasi but knew him very well. He then offered to give us his phone number but we said thank you and cut the call.
Then we tried the second number. This person knew Eric too and gave us his wife's number.
Finally, we got in touch with her and asked her to meet us at the hospital because her husband was involved in an accident. We went back to where Eric was being treated. Again Emil went inside whilst the chicken stood outside watching them through the glass doors. This time Eric was asking for food. He kept saying he was hungry. I could see his stomach jump up and down , at least that's how it looked to me, whilst the medics worked on him. I thought they were rather too slow and could not comprehend why several of them stood there yet not much was being done. I moved away a little bit to call Eric's wife again. This time she said she was almost at the hospital. I heaved a sigh of relief. I resumed my post by the door.
'Please give me water, I'm thirsty' Eric said. 'I want water, water....' This time he got me real scared. I was still praying and pacing back and forth but stopped to stand closer to the door now. I had heard stories of people asking for water before they died. So I just had a feeling this wasn't right. Oh Eric please hang in there, you will be okay, I prayed silently. 'Jesu-s, Jesus, Jesu-s. Please give me water to drink. Give me water and let me die. Wate- r pleas-se.' He kept screaming. The medics still worked on him. 'Do we have to give him water? ' Emil asked. 'No' said the doctor as they kept on attending to Eric. Just then Eric shut his mouth and closed his eyes. Then I saw him lay still. That scared me but I held on to my faith. I had that bad feeling, he would die yet I remembered Psalm 118:17 , 'I shall not die but live to declare the works of God.' Eric shall not die I kept praying. A man's life shall be up to seventy years and beyond, Eric isn't seventy yet. In the bible, you raised Lazarus from the dead though he had been gone for days. May every dead thing in this body come alive in Jesus name.
Eric lay still and did not move. I wanted to cry. 'Whats wrong with him?' I inquired but no one answered me. Rather one of the nurses started pumping his heart with his hands. 'Is he okay?' I asked again. The whole team of medics were silent now. They just stared at me and stared back at Eric. The male nurse kept pumping his heart yet Eric didn't regain consciousness. 'Whats happening to him?' I asked again. 'He's being revived' said a police man to me. He had brought some patients who were in detention at his station and so had been watching closely. 'Why are they trying to revive him? Is he dead?' Apparently, I was asking dumb questions. He was dead. Then they started getting the needles out of him and everything they had been doing for Eric stopped and the medics started dispersing. Oh no, he was dead. I began to cry out loud. 'You guys killed him finally with your lackadaisical attitude'. They all turned to look at me. I was inconsolable as I cried. People tried holding me. Then I saw Emil. He pulled me into his arms and said; 'Its okay.' I didn't know I had that much strength. I pulled out of his arms and every attempt to pull me back failed as I would not let him. Some of the medics followed us. Trying to make me understand that he would have died because he bled too much.
I just ignored them and walked on to the parking lot. Bunch of hypocrites. Is your duty to save lives or to determine which ones to save. I thought to myself. Emil told me the doctor was just trying to stabilize his condition so they could transfer him to Korle-bu. 'Emil, please. I don't want to hear about those people. They did nothing for the guy. I was there. Please don't patronise me.' People even thought I was a relation but I do not have to be related to a man to feel his pain or cry because he lay still. Just then a taxi stopped and I saw a woman come out of it. She was with a baby and a teenager. That could be Eric's wife I said to Emil. The medics told me to wipe my tears and stop crying so the woman would not suspect a thing. Emil went to speak with her. Just then I turned back to look. The morgue can was being wheeled to take him so Emil led her through the opposite walk way to the doctor's consulting room. I went back with the medics to see Eric being cleaned up. I didn't like the smell of the place now. Oh. He just lay still. I could not believe it. He was talking a few minutes ago. He looked so lively.
I went to sit with the teenage girl and the little girl that Eric's wife had come to the hospital with. I learned that the little girl was his only child and the teenage girl, their help. 'Is he badly injured?' Inquired the teenage girl. I didn't know what to say. 'His arm is broken' 'Oh daddy.' I walked away so she wouldn't see me cry just in time to find Eric's wife who had been led to where he lay crying. She patted him on the chest talking to him. I could not hear a word because by this time the stretcher had been moved farther inside.
The medics looked like they had seen a ghost. I looked at their faces and saw hypocrisy written on them. Same people who did not want to treat him an hour or so ago, same people feeling sorry. Same people who took forever to get him out of the taxi and commence treatment, same people looking stunned. Why be a nurse if you do not have the passion to save lives?
This brings to bare the fact that, my country is ill equipped to handle such emergencies. Yes. I did not see all those equipments I see in the movies. I also did not see the medics rushing to save this life like they do in the movies. I also did not see that desire to ensure this man came out alive like I see in the movies. Even when they were losing him, I did not see a CPR or the team rushing to save him. Everything was wrong from the minute we arrived at the hospital. It felt like Emil and I were the only ones who wanted him alive. Yes. I did not see or feel the attitude of well meaning medics.
In Ghana, the nurses are only friendly and nice if you visit a private hospital because over there, they stand to lose their jobs if they aren't. In the public hospitals where most people are forced to go because of a referral , the nurses are curt and insensitive to the phlights of the people: the reason they are there. Well apart from the nurses at the Cardio unit at Korle-bu, I do not know any other public hospital nurses who are all friendly and kind. In most places, majority of them are not. God bless the few nurses and doctors who will move heaven and earth to ensure the safety of their patients. Back to my own friendly team at the VRA hospital and the doctors and nurses who worked on me a little over a year ago. They made me feel like I did not deserve to go through the cuts and needles thing at all. Such angels. God bless them all.
Our current power outage situation has made it easier for people to commit crimes and get away with it. Yes, if the street lights had been on, if only the traffic lights were working around Dzorwulu on Friday the 13th of March, I'm sure it would have been easier to track down whoever run Eric over. People around would have seen it as well.
We as a people must change our attitudes towards certain things. No one in this country is willing to help anyone in distress. Yes because in the end, the helper becomes the bad person. Just like Eric's family is suspecting Emil of being the one who run him over when the real driver is resting somewhere else. Emil paid Eric's bills and I do not think we took Eric to the hospital because we wanted him dead. The evidence is clear. Nothing on the car shows that there was an accident. Taxi driver confirms taking victim to the hospital in his taxi driving right behind us. Police at the hospital confirm checks did not reveal anything contrary to our side of the story. Onlookers at the scene confirm that Emil and I were just helpers. Why is it so difficult for us as a people to accept the real truth. Why won't people just go on their way if they find a man in such a situation next time?
What about that meanie who ran away? I have had sleepless nights since Friday. I have skipped meals and been in shock. I have been very scared and he or she lives a free man. I leave him to God.
One thing people keep asking me. 'Did you lead him to confess christ?' No I did not. Firstly I have never been faced with such a situation to know how to respond appropriately. Secondly, , though I kept praying for Eric, I did not envisage he would die. I felt it whilst praying that we would lose him but again, I could not be sure. I had so much faith in God. I have never been faced with such a situation. Thirdly, Eric said to me, he was a Pastor. I assumed that as a pastor, he knew what to do in his distress and saw no need to lead him to confess Christ though something kept pushing me to remind him to confess christ. Again, if I did that, it would mean that I was writing the man off and giving him little hope. Well you do not only need to confess Christ when the end is near. Confession must be done often, is it? I'm not sure. I can't tell what was running through his mind when we were having a chat on arrival at the hospital. Perhaps he saw the end.
Sad ending for a man whose only aim was to have a meal at Urban taste on foot because he had been involved in an accident three or so days ago damaging his car completely. What happens to that little girl who is barely two years? And his wife? If I'm feeling this burdened and broken, I cannot begin to envisage their pain. God comfort them. I cannot say RIP to Eric because watching him go, I rather think it is an inappropriate expression to use. I think Rest well will sound better.
Through you,
I witnessed someone die
Through you I discovered the lapses in our system.
Through you,
I know I still love people no matter who they are.
Through you, I'm reminded I cannot be a nurse
I'm too sympathetic towards the plight of others I cannot stand piercing someone with a needle
I have learned a dozen lessons
I do not regret meeting you a few hours before you died.
Rest well Eric
May your soul find rest in the splendour of the almighty.
To my friend Emil.
You are one in a million.
Not every man cries when another man dies, you got me laughing hard though after asking me not to cry, you ended up crying too.
I admire you for helping a stranger and attaching so much importance to it.
I'm still learning.
Based on a true life story:
13th March, 2015.
Been depressed for days but I finally found the courage and strength to write this. Not the best but seriously I don't think I can do better. Writing this hurt. Now everyone knows why I've been so withdrawn.
