By Daniel Anokwuru
Life could be mysterious. Sometimes, it throws up situations that are not easy to explain or fathom
Take the case of 13-year-old Innocent Mbaeliachi. He was three years old when he attended school on the first day of his resumption when a mysterious commercial motorcycle ran into the school premises, hit him, and ran away. The Nigerian Xpress learnt that the accident happened inside the school premises when the pupils were playing in the field during break time.
The sad incident took place 10 years ago and up to now, nobody has got a clue as regards what really happened. However, it resulted in the amputation of his leg. Strangely, on exactly the same date and month the accident occurred and10 years after the amputation of his left leg, the pain revisited the poor boy in a more life-threatening way.
Speaking with our reporter in his father’s residence, situated at 7, Okoye Street, Igboelerin, Lagos, Innocent said though he was only three years old when the accident occurred, the agony he passed through has remained a memory he will ever live with.
READ ALSO:APC wins Taraba Central Senate seat
He said; “The accident happened on January 7, 2009. I was three years old then. I was playing with other children in our school premises, Central School Amaigbo, in Imo State. It was on a Monday and also my first day of resumption in the school, I was in Nursery 2 then. During our break time, we were playing in the field when a commercial motorcycle just ran into the school premises, hit me and ran away. The teachers were calling him to stop but he refused and escaped.”
Innocent added that he spent three months in the first hospital the teachers took him to, but was later transferred to another hospital where he spent another six months before the leg was amputated.
“The teachers took me to General Hospital, Amaigbo. I was admitted there for three months. They later said they could no longer treat it and transferred me to Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, Imo State. I was there for another six months. The leg got rotten and they had to cut if off. However, since this January 9, 2019, the leg started bleeding and swollen again with the bone growing out from my flesh causing me serious pain.”
The father of the victim, Mr. Sunday Mbaeliachi, a father of two from Oji River in Enugu State, lamented that the misfortune has brought utter misery to the family. He said that his son’s predicament made him to auction all his goods just to make sure he survived, but the condition has returned back.
The 48 years old father noted that they could hardly feed now, not to talk of taking his son to the hospital.
According to him: “When the accident happened, I sold auctioned al that I had for this matter. I was dealing on electrical materials in Alaba International Market, Ojo, Lagos, before. I do not even have a shop any more. To feed is very difficult for us now. I never believed they would amputate the leg of three years old boy. As you can see now his condition is worsening, and I do not have any means of taking him to the hospital. At FMC, I was told that the leg was dead after six months; they cut it off and gave me to go and bury. Tears rolled down my eyes, watching my three years old son lose his leg at such tender age. I was in a serious trauma. Before I used to change his artificial leg every two years but I cannot even afford it any more.”
READ ALSO:Court sentences AVM Tony Omenyi to 7 year in prison for receiving N136m bribe
Corroborating the claims of her husband, Mrs. Jen Mbaeliachi, told our reporter that the period was months of sleepless nights, pain and agony for the family. She spoke with The Nigerian Xpress through her cell phone, as our reporter was informed that she was in the village as at the time he visited their house. She said the accident happened in her own village, in Amaigbo, because she had travelled with the children to her father’s house because things became very difficult for her husband. Her words: “The accident happened in my village, things became very difficult with us, I decided to travel home with them while my husband managed himself in Lagos, with hope that once things get better, we would return back to Lagos. I enrolled him in Central School, Amaigbo. It was his first day of resumption that the accident occurred. I called my husband, he came down to Imo State, and we started battling for the leg. At the end, the leg was amputated. Currently, the situation has returned, meaning he might go through the same agony again.”
Mr. Sunday is calling on kind-hearted Nigerians to come to their aid, as he is currently in a difficult situation, and cannot afford taking his son to the hospital. He can be reached on 07038199083.
