Ex-minister Chidoka mourns his brother-in-law and blames "cultural failure"
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Former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka announced on Saturday the death of his brother-in-law, Paul Egbon, accusing him of "cultural failure".
In a post on her Facebook page, Chidoka noted that Egbon, the husband of her only sister, Ada, died Saturday at age 56.
He further recounted the circumstances that led to the death of his brother-in-law, advising Nigerians to undergo regular medical examinations.
Chidoka wrote: "Yesterday I wrote about the inevitability of death as we approach the fifth decade, aware that the life expectancy of a Nigerian is 54 years.
"Today death visited. My brother-in-law, Apostle Paul Egbon, husband of my only sister, Ada Chidoka Egbon, died at the age of 56.
"Yesterday he was at the Jabi Federal Medical Center with a complaint of chest pain.
"The doctor who saw him prescribed pain medication and recommended an ECG and other tests. At the lab, they said it was late in the day and told them to come back today, Saturday. He walked to the car and they drove home. Allowing him to go home was a questionable decision.
"I couldn't help but remember, when as a graduate student, I walked into Arlington General Hospital, Virginia, with a complaint of chest pain.< /p>
"They immediately brought a stretcher and took me to the emergency room. They performed all the tests and kept me tied to the bed until all the results were in and they concluded that it was muscle pain in the chest.
“In the early hours of the morning, around 5 a.m., he suffered what we suspect was cardiac arrest. My sister rushed him to the same federal medical center, Jabi.
“A doctor came out, saw him in the car, and pronounced him dead. They gave him a form and told him to take him to the morgue. Yes, you read that right. told a grieving woman, who was told without any preparation, to take her deceased husband to the morgue.
“They did not remove the body from the car. Apparently there is no protocol for receiving a patient brought in dead. She was in the car with her deceased husband when my uncle, a doctor, arrived I arrived shortly after.
"She was in the car crying, holding her husband in the hospital parking lot. A hospital they've been using for years.
"We had difficulty getting her out of the car before moving the body to the morgue. The hospital has not officially received the body. No attempt to separate a woman from a body.
"No official record of the examination that pronounced him dead. They did not counsel her or even empathize with her.
“It was not a medical failure, misdiagnosis or lack of treatment. It was a process and a cultural failure. Something went wrong with our humanity and our sense of empathy as people.
“I advise (you) to have regular medical examinations. Have a primary health care doctor who knows you personally and has your history.
“Your attending physician is likely to make the difference between life and death. Our institutions are weak and our officials are neither public-minded nor interested in service.
"Together with the deceased, we pray for God's mercy and love upon us all. Amen."
Please share this story:
Please share this story:
Former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka announced on Saturday the death of his brother-in-law, Paul Egbon, accusing him of "cultural failure".
In a post on her Facebook page, Chidoka noted that Egbon, the husband of her only sister, Ada, died Saturday at age 56.
He further recounted the circumstances that led to the death of his brother-in-law, advising Nigerians to undergo regular medical examinations.
Chidoka wrote: "Yesterday I wrote about the inevitability of death as we approach the fifth decade, aware that the life expectancy of a Nigerian is 54 years.
"Today death visited. My brother-in-law, Apostle Paul Egbon, husband of my only sister, Ada Chidoka Egbon, died at the age of 56.
"Yesterday he was at the Jabi Federal Medical Center with a complaint of chest pain.
"The doctor who saw him prescribed pain medication and recommended an ECG and other tests. At the lab, they said it was late in the day and told them to come back today, Saturday. He walked to the car and they drove home. Allowing him to go home was a questionable decision.
"I couldn't help but remember, when as a graduate student, I walked into Arlington General Hospital, Virginia, with a complaint of chest pain.< /p>
"They immediately brought a stretcher and took me to the emergency room. They performed all the tests and kept me tied to the bed until all the results were in and they concluded that it was muscle pain in the chest.
“In the early hours of the morning, around 5 a.m., he suffered what we suspect was cardiac arrest. My sister rushed him to the same federal medical center, Jabi.
“A doctor came out, saw him in the car, and pronounced him dead. They gave him a form and told him to take him to the morgue. Yes, you read that right. told a grieving woman, who was told without any preparation, to take her deceased husband to the morgue.
“They did not remove the body from the car. Apparently there is no protocol for receiving a patient brought in dead. She was in the car with her deceased husband when my uncle, a doctor, arrived I arrived shortly after.
"She was in the car crying, holding her husband in the hospital parking lot. A hospital they've been using for years.
"We had difficulty getting her out of the car before moving the body to the morgue. The hospital has not officially received the body. No attempt to separate a woman from a body.
"No official record of the examination that pronounced him dead. They did not counsel her or even empathize with her.
“It was not a medical failure, misdiagnosis or lack of treatment. It was a process and a cultural failure. Something went wrong with our humanity and our sense of empathy as people.
“I advise (you) to have regular medical examinations. Have a primary health care doctor who knows you personally and has your history.
“Your attending physician is likely to make the difference between life and death. Our institutions are weak and our officials are neither public-minded nor interested in service.
"Together with the deceased, we pray for God's mercy and love upon us all. Amen."
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