As family members and associates lay the remains of Dr Vwaere Diaso, who died after an elevator crash, to rest, concerns over the state of Nigeria’s medical emergency response have come to the fore, UTHMAN SALAMI writes
On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, a young medical doctor, Vwaere Diaso, fell to her death after the elevator she was riding in lost control and tumbled down from the ninth floor of the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island.
Since then, several accounts of the accident have surfaced, with the official story stating she died in the elevator after the crash. However, multiple eyewitness accounts and family members have picked holes in the story.
Dr Diaso, who was meant to complete programme at the hospital two weeks before her death, was said to be alive for over an hour in the elevator after the collapse of the machine.
While the official account of the unfortunate event claimed she bled after sustaining serious wounds from the accident, eyewitnesses reported the deceased asked for help while she was still trapped in the elevator.
Other eyewitness accounts alleged the promising young woman died because of a shortage of blood after she was rescued and rushed to the emergency ward of the hospital.
In a report published by The PUNCH on August 3, 2023, one of the house officers in the hospital, Dr Ajuwon Olumide, submitted that the non-availability of blood at the general hospital contributed to Diaso’s death.
Olumide, who was part of those that rescued Diaso from the elevator, alleged that the hospital’s management was not proactive despite informing them immediately crash occurred.
He said, “We tried to open the elevator, but we were unable to. We switched it off and called the elevator’s maintenance team. They asked us to switch it off so that it would open, but it didn’t.
“We called the maintenance company in charge of the elevator and the maintenance unit within the hospital, but nobody came. For more than 40 minutes, nobody came to her rescue. We were not ready to give up and continued trying to open the elevator door. Just when we thought all hope was lost, the door opened a bit, and we saw her lying in a pool of blood.
“She kept begging us not to let her die. She was in pain and still bleeding profusely. We rushed her to the emergency unit, where she was placed on oxygen. It was discovered that she was bleeding internally and needed a blood transfusion, but there was no blood in the facility.”
The father of the deceased, Mr. Kennedy Diaso, corroborated this during a telephone interview with our correspondent. He accused the hospital of a deliberate attempt to kill his daughter and was perplexed as to how the hospital administration could take hours to unlock an elevator.
The heartbroken father also cited inconsistencies in the official report claiming his daughter died in the elevator.
He said, “If you do a proper investigation, you will see that it took them one hour to open a lift that fell to the ground. Was it a safe? It cannot even take one hour to open a safe.
“They said she died inside the elevator. Can a dead person ask for help? The reports are there. It says she died while they were trying to resuscitate her. It is right there in the paper.
“They killed my daughter. I don’t want to believe that they were that negligent. It was a deliberate attempt to kill her. I cannot fathom how she lost so much blood and blood was not administered to her. With the amount of blood that she lost, that was up to one bucket on the floor; and they will say that she did not need blood.
“What is the total blood volume in the human system? We will see whether they will not be charged with murder.
Blaming the management of the hospital, Kennedy continued, “They killed my daughter. I do not want to believe that they were that negligent. It was a deliberate attempt to kill her.”
According to recent figures from the National Blood Services Commission, Nigeria is only able to produce 25 per cent-that is, 500,000-of the two million units of blood it needs annually.
A media research and data analytics organisation, Dataphyte, recently stated that the number of units of blood available in the national blood bank is insufficient to meet the standard of the World Health Organization and meet the country’s frequent blood needs.
Although there is no data to ascertain the number of lives this shortage of blood banks has caused, experts have said the lack of blood supply, among others, is a leading cause of death daily.
The narrative surrounding Diaso’s death continues to unravel the dire state of emergency response in Nigerian hospitals. It has also shown a lack of thorough response from the government.
A couple of days after the death of the doctor, the state governor, while sympathising with the bereaved family, called for the immediate suspension of the Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency’s boss, Adenike Adekanbi, for not properly overseeing the activities of the agency and managing the facility.
Sanwo-Olu further ordered that the facility managers be sacked, and the firm be blacklisted. Family members of the deceased are not sure such an approach will help solve the mystery of their daughter’s death.
They insisted the government is playing to the gallery as they claim Diaso did not die in the elevator. They stated that she was stable and speaking after the crash before she was taken to the hospital’s emergency unit.
They argued that the hospital management should be invited for questioning over their negligence. Kennedy (the deceased father) stated, “Why has no one invited the management of the hospital? I have not seen a report that anyone was invited. They are inviting facilities and contractors.”
When asked if the family would take legal action, the father noted, “Time will tell.”
A lady who identified as Ese and claimed to be the late doctor’s sister blamed the government for the incident on her Twitter handle on Tuesday.
She tweeted, “Today my sister was buried. The pain my family and I are going through is indescribable. To so many people, Vwaere is just another sad story of how the Nigerian government has and continues to fail its people, but she’s more than that.
“She was a daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, friend, niece, and our ‘dockie’ who worked tirelessly helping people.”
According to a former President of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, Lagos State Branch, Dr Dumebi Owa, Nigeria requires sustained blood donation education across the country to meet its blood needs.
She told The PUNCH, “It will be nice if people in the national assembly, commissioners, and others lead by example by donating blood to hospitals.
“There is a need for sensitisation about blood donation. But the people at the helm of affairs should lead the pack. Not only are the fabrics of all sectors in this country in a total mess, but every fiber of the fabric has issues. It takes both leadership and followers to make this right.
“This is a major issue. There should be sustained public enlightenment about the importance of blood because the life of every human being depends on it. It is that lady today, but it might be another tomorrow. Why can’t state assembly members, commissioners, and others in the public and private sectors donate blood to general hospitals on a regular basis?”
When contacted, an officer in the Public Communication unit of the state Ministry of Health, who only identified himself as Segun, said the ministry had issued a comment after the incident and would be making no further comment.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Gboyega Akosile, was unavailable to comment as of the time of filing this report.
