•16 years after, woman needs N7.5 million to
walk again

By Tessy Igomu

She hid her pains behind a smiling face as she ambled
into the newsroom that hot afternoon. As she introduced
herself, nothing in her demeanour revealed the pain and
uncertainty she battled hard to face. Though the
ebullient lady carried herself with so much grace and
charisma, it was discovered that beneath this facade lies
a heart yearning for help.

For 35-year-old Helen Okorocha, life hasn’t been
pleasant. In fact, a greater part of her adolescent years
had been plagued by pains, misery and tears. As the
Ukwuani, Delta State indigene poured out her heart while
narrating a heart-rending tale that had caused the death
of her mother, Mary, you could not but feel pity for her.
Helen’s misery was inflicted on her by an overzealous
trailer apprentice that was driving a truck in the Apapa
area of Lagos. He had no inkling on how to manoeuvre
the long vehicle. In the process, he crushed Helen.

Recounting her ordeal, Helen, said she had just turned 19
and was working with a marketing firm in Apapa when
the incident occurred. She recalled that as she got to
work that fateful day and was about entering the office
complex, a truck from nowhere rammed into her and
dragged her along the stretch of the road.

By the time the truck was finally stopped by an
embankment, even with her body still trapped
underneath, she was unconscious and had to be rushed
to the Lagos Island General Hospital, Marina.
Helen recalled that when she regained consciousness
days later, her right leg and arm, which had been
shattered beyond recognition, were encased in
bandages. She disclosed that when the nurses later
opened up the bandages to dress the wound, what she
saw almost returned her into an unconscious state.
“Everyone could see what was left of the bone on my
right leg. The only thing holding the shattered bones
were strands of loose skin. Even the veins and tendons in
that leg were gone. The accident left me demobilized
and shattered. I lost faith in ever recovering and walking
with the leg because doctors told me the only way for
me to survive was to have my leg amputated from the
knee,” she said.

After spending some days in the hospital, Helen said her
mother went to Apapa Police Station, where the matter
was reported, but was surprised to learn that the young
man as well as the truck had been released without their
knowledge. Helen also alleged that the police officers
refused to further pursue the case.

Her words: “The policemen released the man and the
truck without even bothering to contact me or my
mother, despite knowing that I was in a very critical
condition. Nobody even came to check on me. They later
brought N20, 000 and told me that it was all the truck
owner gave to them. Meanwhile, daily, my mother spent
N4, 500 to have my wounds cleaned and dressed by the
nurses. Any day that she couldn’t afford the money, the
room would be overtaken by a nauseous odour that
would keep other patients and visitors away.”
Helen revealed that at a point, she nearly lost her life as
the leg became infected with tetanus and later infested
by maggots.

“On some day, the nurses would hand me a bowl and an
instrument to pick out the maggots. When I get tired,
my mother would take over. Aside the constant pain that
I usually pass through, there were days my mother and I
went hungry because there was no money to buy food
and nobody to help. This was after she had sold
everything she had. Those were the worst days, weeks,
months and years of my life,” she recalled with tears
rolling down her cheeks.

After spending two agonising years in the hospital and
undergoing five surgeries, Helen was discharged and left
to face a life of uncertainty. She was later dealt a deadly
blow with the death of her mother, who all the while was
her lifeline.

“My mother died of heartbreak. She was so sad to see
me suffering the way I was. At a point, she became so
sick and there was no money to take care of her. Even at
the point of death, she was crying for me.”

Helen said that the accident, coupled with her mother’s
death, made it impossible for her to move ahead and
face other promising life ventures. She admitted losing
the will to live at a point but was encouraged by the
word of God and by her church members to hold on.
Till now, she remains uncertain about the dimension or
path her life would take. But despite her condition, she
still exhibits strength while speaking about her
predicament – strength drawn from the fact that
Nigerians, being good natured and good hearted, would
help give her a new lease of life.
Presently, Helen lives each day in untold pain and agony.

She lives on the benevolence of parishioners of St.
Charles Catholic Church, Apapa. The only lifeline that can
make her survive this excruciating ordeal is an urgent
medical intervention. She said she wants to reach out to
Nigerians for help during this darkest hour of her life.
The distressed lady urgently needs N7.5 million for a
crucial ‘Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery’ in India.
The money is meant to cover feeding accommodation
and other treatment at Sagar Hospital in Banashankari.
She is also calling on the governor of Delta State, Dr.
Ifeanyi Okowa, to look on her with pity and rescue her
from death.

Helen, who has not resigned herself to fate by wearing
despondency on her face like a cloak, is hopeful that she
would still make good use of her right leg to walk and
run. She also looks forward to settling with a man of her
dream and cuddling her own children.

She hopes to get
her life back on track after the surgery by also either
returning to school or becoming gainfully employed.
Helen could be reached on 0818889675. She can also be
reached through Mr. Damian Nwabusa on 08035669000
or Geraldine Onyenanu on 08032150006. They are both
parishioners of St. Charles Catholic Church, Apapa, that
have been nominated to help raise funds for her surgery.

Source

sunnewsonline.com/new/how-apprentice-truck-driver-shattered-helens-dreams/