#Ebola: I should have died in place of Dr Adadevoh – First Consultant boss recounts losses

by Jewel Stephen
The immediate past governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi recently visited First Consultant Hospital, Obalende where Nigeria’s index Ebola case was treated, to commiserate with the management over the heavy casualties and deaths – Stella Adadevoh (a senior consultant) and Dr. Abaniwo, as well as 2 nurses, who all contracted the virus from the late Patrick Sawyer – the hospital suffered.
While receiving the Ex-Governor, the hospital’s boss, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri recounted their losses.

“The events of the past months have been very overwhelming, to say the least. I have refrained from speaking all these while because I wanted to tell my story in a sequential manner.
“We have lost a lot of things – our laundry, laboratory, nursing, monitoring line; name it. But none of these compares to our human resource losses. When people come here and ask me how much equipment we have lost, I say to them that the most important equipment to me are the people. I recall that some of my colleagues with whom we took decision together are now late, I cannot understand it. I wonder why I’m still alive and not dead? I wonder why the dead are not like me.
“Here in Lagos, we lost seven people as a result of Mr. Sawyer’s Bioterrorism and four of such deaths were staff of First Consultant Hospital. That means that we bore the brunt of the disaster for the country. Look at Dr. Adadevoh, for instance. Here was a doctor who used to take care of me because I’m hypertensive. She used to give me my drugs weekly. But before this Ebola experience, she gave me a dosage that was to last me for one month. Then I said to her, ‘it is like I have graduated now to taking one month dose’ and we laughed over it. She had her son in this hospital and I was the one who took the delivery.
“Look at Dr. Abaniwo, who died before Dr. Adadevoh. He was with us for four years. He contracted the virus when he went over to intervene when Mr. Sawyer was harassing Dr. Adadevoh at a time he (Sawyer) had become angry and restive. That was how we got into this. Evelyn was a widow and a nurse with four children – very humble, loyal and diligent. She was with us when Dr. Adadevoh was delivered of her baby. She was the first person who welcomed Mr. Sawyer. She was part of this institution. Her death was heartbreaking. It was total devastation. Soon after her death, the landlord threw her children out of their home. And we are doing all we can to take care of them. We have got them an accommodation and they have settled in.
“For Dr. Adadevoh, she worked with me for 21 years. She was a smart professional who I took as my number one person. Look at this lady here (pointing at Dr. Ada Igonoh who survived the epidemic), I have adopted her as my daughter. She started work here on July 1, 2014, 20 days before the arrival of Mr. Sawyer. It was Dr. Adadevoh who brought her here. At the isolation centre, she was two beds away from Dr. Adadevoh. Yet, she was the one monitoring everyone in the hospital and giving us reports on hourly basis. That helped us to know what packages to bring to them and every line of action to take. In fact, it was right in her arms that our own late Justina died.”