21/05/2023
How 10-Year-Old Active Chinazam Walked Into Shell Clinic Port Harcourt And Ended Up With Brain Damage
Jerry Ewobari Nnah wrote: “The Okoli's are a family I got very close to starting out during my university days; so very kind and generous in all their doings. I even had a session with Chinazam one Sunday after church and I almost couldn't get a single frame because he was so active and vibrant, barely any minute passed where Chinazam didn't pull a backflip, it was a signature with him.
The story however is different now.
September 2016, Chinazam's parents consented to an appendicitis surgery for their 10-year-old only son, the surgeon at the Shell Petroleum Development Company Industrial Area Clinic in Rumuobiakani, Rumuomasi in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had told them it was a simple, straightforward 30-minute procedure. In fact, it was meant to be so simple he assured them their son would be discharged within four days of the surgery. Seven years later, Stella and Emeka Okoli are still waiting for their son to be “discharged”.
With the benefit of hindsight, this medical procedure was already primed for botching since the previous month when Stella first took Chinazam to the hospital after he complained of stomach ache. A physician at the clinic examined him and concluded he was fine. However, on Friday September 2, three days before his scheduled resumption of school, he complained of the ache again. His mom returned with him to the clinic and, this time, the doctor who examined Chinazam said he had to see a surgeon at once so he can be operated on as the appendix is inflammed. Here is the once very active, super talented, full of dreams and ambitious boy now a vegetable and no concrete reason as to why he is in this state is giving by the clinic.
Lend your voice, let Chinazam's voice be heard through you.”
