FYI, numbers
of death is 2, 7 are confirmed to having the virus, 40 are quarantined and
about 139 persons are under close surveillance.
John Okiyi Kalu forwarded an email to
igboville where he told the story of a nurse who became a member last December
and joined an effort to provide free medical services in Aba.
That member,
who subsequently took a job in Lagos this year, appears to have been one of the
nurses who attended to Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian who died of Ebola in the
city last week. One of those nurses died
yesterday.
Mr. Kalu
said in the email that his group wants to launch twitter and facebook campaigns
starting on Friday morning using the hash tag, #GiveThemExperimentalDrugs to
draw attention to their plight, and to prevail on the United States to send the
drugs to needy African countries.
Read mail
below:
Gentlemen, I
come to you with my head bowed in tears and agony.
Last
December as we (Igboville/ONF) were organizing Igboville Enyimba free medical
services for Aba, one young nurse whose picture is attached, volunteered and joined us to make it a
success. She was previously working at Otunba tunwase national peadiatric
centre Ijebu Ode in Ogun state and a graduate of Ebonyi State University
Abakaliki.
Earlier this
year, she relocated to Lagos to work at First Consultant Hospital Obalande. But
last week she posted the following at Igboville and disappeared:
"I never contacted
his fluids.i checked his Vitals, helped him with his food.(he was too
weak).....i basically touched where his hands touched and dats d only
contact.not directly wt his fluids.@a stage, he yanked off his infusion and we
had blood everywhere on his bed.....but d ward maids took care of that and
changed his linens with great precaution.everypatient is treated as high risk
.....if it were airborne,by now wahala for dey.i still thank God."
"Friends,upto our
uniforms n all linens were burnt off.we r on surveillance n off work till 11th.
Our samples v long bn
taken by WHO n so far we v been fine.
For me,kudos to my
hospital managt cos we work proffessionally wt every patient considered risk
cos thats d training.had it been its a hospital where they manage ordinar
gloves lik Govt hospital n some janjaweed private hosp..:lol....wahala for dey
o.i must also thank Lagos Govt....infact!Even fed govt sef....all been
supportive. I am good n so r the others in d hosp....." Continue..
We have
since confirmed that she was among those who attended to the Liberian Ebola
patient, Mr Sawyerr, in Lagos. She is currently being quarantined at Mainland
hospital Yaba Lagos alongside about 40 others. This clinic is immediately after
Yaba Tech. She is still alive and spoke with me today on phone. But one of her
fellow nurses died yesterday, as you might have read in Nigerian newspapers.
You can help
save her life and that of about 40 others quarantined at Yaba, even though the
situation looks hopeless.
We simply
just can't fold our arms and wait for this deadly virus to take her and others
away. Her only crime, alongside others, is doing her job of caring for the weak
and infirmed. It could have been you or me.
All I ask of
you is that you join us to launch a massive online campaign using the news and
social media to demand that President Obama release the experimental drugs used
in managing the American ebola victims to the Nigerian and Lagos State
Government immediately.
Our health
minister has already informed the public that they have requested for the drugs
from America. But we need to mount pressure using all the resources available
to us as humans and Nigerians. If we don't do it, we will lose Justina and
others. Obama already said he won't release the drugs to Africans but given that
American government is public opinion driven, we can make him change his mind,
if we try hard enough.
We want to
launch twitter and facebook campaigns from tomorrow morning using the handle
#GiveThemExperimentalDrugs to draw attention to their plight. It is inhuman to
keep people and wait for them to die. Families are involved.
These
brothers and sister had life and hope before this Liberian man flew into
Nigeria.
Should we
just wait for them to die?
Please
contact every Nigerian celebrity you know to join this campaign in addition to
writing about this in your media and social network handles. Put pressure on
every government official you know in Nigeria and America. Ask your facebook
friends to join this campaign in a non political manner. Get friends and family
members involved because we are all at risk if nothing is done.
Feel free to
direct any further questions te me via this email or phone (08054271418)
Thank You
and God help us.
John Okiyi
Kalu
0 Comments