Christopher Mike-Ozugha’s parents say the carefree attitude of some medical workers at the Ikorodu General Hospital, Lagos State, allegedly led to the death of their only child. The couple – Esther and Emmanuel Mike-Ozugha – told Punchng that Chris was taken to the hospital because he had difficulty in breathing. They accused the hospital of placing him on oxygen for about 30 minutes, adding that the oxygen tank had run out of oxygen.
But the general hospital said the child had severe bronchopneumonia and malaria, which killed him. Christopher’s mother said, “He could walk and talk at that time we got to the hospital around 1am. They started complaining that why did we go to a private hospital and come to them when things were getting out of hands? A doctor told one of the nurses to prepare oxygen for Chris. .
The nurse said the oxygen tank they had was not working and that we should not disturb her. Later, another nurse came and I begged her. She followed me to the Accident and Emergency Ward, where we got an oxygen tank. After 30 minutes, the nurse came back to check and said there was no oxygen in the tank. She quickly connected him to the central oxygen. After some minutes, it started blinking and I rushed to call the first nurse.
She said I should leave her alone. She told me to put it off and switch it on again. I did so and it started working again. After a while, my child started misbehaving. I ran back to her. She said I should leave her alone. Later, the second nurse said the degree of the oxygen was low. By that time, my baby was no longer responding. Something was coming out of his mouth.” The husband, Emmanuel, who corroborated his wife’s account, said their child died around 11am. .
However, a senior official at the hospital described the allegation that the oxygen tank was faulty and short of oxygen as false, adding that investigation had commenced on the alleged nonchalant attitude of the first nurse. Also, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, also promised to investigate the case.