By Chioma Obinna

The Father of the boy almost torn to pieces by dogs is in some kind of war with LASUTH. The father posts his account number on the Internet, soliciting for donations and accuses the hospital of abandoning his boy. But LASUTH says it is taking good care of the lad and he is recovering; that there was need for the father to solicit for donation from the public since the governor has picked up the bills.

WHEN a dog bites a man, it isn’t usually news. But when a man bites a dog, it makes the headlines. However the case of a four-year-old Master Omonigho Abraham, bitten by a dog, is one that is making the headlines over and over again.

The reason for such public attention is not far-fetched. Omonigho was savagely attacked by two full grown dogs of the German Shepherd breed belonging to their landlord, right in front of his parent’s home in Igando area of Lagos.

Master Omonigho Abraham the father

The boy was said to have been violently attacked by the fierce dogs while he was riding a bicycle outside their home with his elder brother, Bobby. During the attack, the little boy had his scalp completely chopped off by the man-eating dogs, exposing his skull.

The incident, which has created a lot of interest and concern within the community and even within the medical profession, is currently under investigation by the Police, even while the badly injured boy is still recovering at hospital.

According to the Police Veterinary doctor, preliminary medical investigations have been carried out on the dogs and the dogs were found to be in sound health.

Controversy has continued to trail the state of the boy’s health following two life- saving surgeries he underwent at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH and waves of reactions are yet to die down since the shocking incident occurred.

According to hospital records, the boy was rushed to LASUTH unconscious at about 10pm on the fateful day. It took doctors three agonising days to resuscitate him. At the last count, the boy has undergone two surgeries and awaiting another on the skull.

Since then, the boy has been on admission at the hospital. Succour, however, came his way when the Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of Health, took over the treatment and management of the boy at LASUTH precisely from October 10, 2014.

But rather than subside, the allegations over the incident have intensified. The good gesture of the State government, which ordinarily would have been seen as an olive branch appears to have been misconstrued.

Controversy began, few days ago, when Odia Abraham, Omonigho’s father, published an article alleging abandonment of his child by the hospital management. The publication which had an account number requesting donations of money for him (Odia) to save his dying child, took LASUTH management unawares. The development eventually sparked off investigation by the hospital management. Meanwhile, staff of the hospital and the family of the boy have continued to trade words. While Odia is insisting that his son is still critically ill and dying, the hospital management maintains that the boy is in good condition and awaiting the last lap of treatment.

According to the boy’s father, he decided to voice out when the boy’s head was opened on two occasions without the consultant coming to check the wound.

Odia said he was concerned because he would not want the efforts of the Lagos State Government to go to waste.

But the hospital management insists that at no time was the boy abandoned saying medical notes and nurses notes could attest to that fact.

However, Saturday Vanguard visited the BT, Burns and Plastic Ward of LASUTH where Omonigho is receiving treatment.   It was exactly 2:37PM, Wednesday, 29 October 2014. Inside one of the waiting rooms Saturday Vanguard encountered the father and other people including the boy who was seen playing around. Could this be the same child who dying 48 hours ago before the publication of the allegations?   Read the opinions of the parties below. Excerpts:

Truly, my child was abandoned for 2 weeks — Odia Abraham, boy’s father

“I said my child was abandoned for two weeks. This is how he was abandoned.   This boy’s dressing days is usually Mondays and Fridays, on which the consultant always come to check his rate of improvement.

The first day it was opened, the man did not show up. Friday, he did not show up and the next day he did not show up, that was why I cried out. Was he not abandoned like that? The thing that pained me most is that even though the consultant did not show up there are other doctors that work with him; When they come in, I’d asked them if they could write out the boy’s drugs so that I could buy them, but they would say “wait for the professor.”

I will also ask: “who is to check the boy?” “Wait for the professor.” And even the nurses will say, “wait for the professor.” If you are in my shoes, won’t you voice out?

“We have been here now for a month and four days. Right from onset I have been the one footing the bill until some friends linked me up with some bloggers abroad. They now decided to write to the state governor of Lagos and Delta states. Immediately the letter gets to Gov. Fashola, he responded immediately. A week after, the Delta State Governor sent his own personal doctor, called Dr. Ufuoma to come and check the condition of the boy.

The Lagos State government gave me a letter that I should not buy anything or pays for anything and that even the one I have paid before should be refunded. They said a letter has been submitted to the Chief Medical Director, CMD, LASUTH; that they should be informed of anything urgent which they did not have there.

Right from that day, the treatment of the boy was stopped. I went back to the Ministry and they gave me original copy of the letter that was sent to them and asked me not to pay any money. Since the 10th, they have stopped treatment and I have been buying drugs; even my brother paid for the last drug yesterday (Tuesday).

The Child’s condition

There are people God has blessed with good health. I don’t know how to explain it to you. The boy may be running around but that does not mean he is okay. Yesterday, when they dressed the wound, he cried all through.   You are asking me questions as if what I am saying is not true. You see him jumping because they have given him some antibiotics and other drugs that can reduce the pain. I will not keep quiet when the child is abandoned.

Master Omonigho Abraham

We had meeting with them yesterday. After the meeting, they have done a great work because it was the consultant himself that did it. I am impressed with their work since yesterday.

All I need now is my medical report for reference.

Father’s allegation is false, boy’s condition is very stable

– Prof. Idowu Fadeyibi, Consultant Plastic Surgeon

The whole story about this patient started 34 days ago around 10 PM when this patient was rushed in unconscious. He was said to have been attacked by two dogs. The skull of posterior part of the head was exposed.   The scalp was completely bitten off by the dogs. He had bled profusely and there were other injuries too on the face and around the trunk. So when we saw him we had to resuscitate him, and it took us about three days to resuscitate him at the emergency section there.

Finally by the third day he started coming round and we moved him to the ward. He had two surgical procedures and he has been on treatment since then. Basically what he is on now is wound care because of the extensive loss of the scalp; most of the posterior parts are involved. We have to remove part of the soft tissues that were left but dead. We have to stop all the points where blood was oozing from. So he is relatively stable.

The allegations

This whole thing started about 48 hours now. I was called by a friend in US asking me to go and check the internet. Subsequently, calls started coming from all over the world that somebody alleged that we abandoned a patient. Specifically, that the child has not been seen by any doctor and that the boy was unconscious and was dying; that people should pray that the boy will not die; that if the boy dies it will be on me; that I have refused to write a medical report for him. At the end of the blog he now put his account number there.

At that point, the most important thing at that point was to see the boy and I and the CMD came around and saw the boy playing around. The medical team went to the ward. We went through the case notes to see whether he had actually been abandoned. The nurses notes are there, the medical records were there to show whether this guy was ever seen and what happened within the period of those two weeks.

Prof Idowu Fadeyibi

This place is a very big place. We have doctors of various categories and the same applies to my unit. We were admitting, operating and discharging patients during this same period. House officers and registrars were going to the ward to see patients. I was going to the ward at odd hours. In fact within those two periods we were conducting exams and so the usual ward round in the morning was no longer there but we were going and the nurses were informing us and in fact if you check the nurse records when the wound was opened the first Monday for us to come and see.

The other consultants in my unit actually went to see the patients and he was the one that said the patients should be covered up. Consequently, I carried other members of my unit to go and see not only him but all our patients and the nurses records are there.

That the nurses were just opening and applying dressing not doing anything and the wound was smelling I tell you if you leave a wound for two weeks even the other patients in the ward would complain, so that is not possible. Then, to say that they stopped giving treatment or drugs, the treatment chart is there, which anybody can check.

The first time he raised an observation like this I went to him and it was my phone he used to speak with CMD and he told him that if there was any need for anything he could not be provided for he should come straight to him. I saw the letter he was given by the state government. It states that in case there is anything that is needed by this patient he should contact a number. He has never contacted that number. He has never contacted the CMD. He just went to the blogger and put his account number. One can imply what that means.

The condition of the boy

You have seen the boy playing all around the wards, playing games and there is nothing to show that the boy is dying or weak and unconscious. That boy is very stable. The stage at which we are is to take care of the wound and get the wound ready for the next surgical procedure.

We are stimulating certain growth with the kind of dressing materials that we are using for him. We are stimulating certain tissues to grow over the exposed bone. When that grows over the exposed bone, we will now take skin from other part of his body to cover that.

Treatable in Nigeria

It is treatable here. Right there on the ward, there are two other patients with similar injuries, children too. Somebody you wrote of 48 hours ago, claiming he is unconscious – that the whole world should pray for him to survive – would   not be playing around like that, even if we are magicians.

How long will treatment last

This is a complex re-constructive procedures, not just one. Our aim now is to get skin to cover the areas and that will suffice for now. The next stage is that there might be some unsightly scars, the portion may not be hair bearing. The next stage will now be to do cosmetics procedure to get hair bearing skin back to the place but that is not the important thing now. In reconstruction, the first thing is life, the next is function and the third is cosmetics.

Life is what we did initially to make sure he gets to this stage. Function is what we are trying to do now. Cosmetics can come later. If he wants to do all including cosmetics, the whole procedure must be about six months.

Government is taking care of the boy —CMD, Prof Adewale Oke

Prof Adewale Oke

About three weeks ago, on the Agatha blog, a story came out that the boy was in LASUTH and not well taken care of and that the boy was dying. Immediately, the state government led by his Excellency instructed that his care should be on the state. Since the admission, he has had two surgeries and been talking drugs, eating and even the money he expended before the state came in has been refunded.

Two days ago, on an another blog in the internet, there was another story that the boy was dying and critical and he hasn’t been seen by his doctor; that the last he saw the doctor was about two weeks ago and that he wanted assistant from all over the world. At the bottom of the piece there was an account number.

When I heard this I was obviously disturbed. So I went immediately to the wards because I had earlier told the man that if there was anything he should come to this office and I had not seen him. I went to the ward and I met the boy playing around with the mother and I asked whether there was any problem and she said none. I asked whether the boy was receiving medication she confirmed that and she also confirmed that the doctors were seeing the boy on a regular basis. People have been phoning from all over the world. Some people insulted him.

But what I told the father categorically is that one, the Governor has committed funds to managing the boy, and as such there is no need for him to access funds from anywhere; that the boy will get better, but that it will take time and may be up to six months. And on the air yesterday (Tuesday), he said Lagos was helping him. I am just saying this to show Nigerians that the story was not true.

The boy is healthy and running around. The story that the boy is dying is not true. The boy does not need any fund from anywhere because the government has taken over the treatment and as the fees accrue we will settle it.