Boy Hacked Down by Dog In Lagos Flown to India for Medical Attention

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Omonigho Abraham

December 1, 2014 – Master Omonigho Ibrahim, the four year old boy whose skull was hacked by a wild Alsatian dog in his father’s rented apartment at 35 Adegboyega Street, Akesan, Igando, Lagos has been flown to India for medical attention.

Lawyer to his father, Barrister Goddy Okpamen who confirmed the development said the father was able to raise the money through an NGO even when the Delta State Government had indicated intention to take care of the boy.

Omonigho Abraham
Omonigho Abraham
Okpamen who did not mention the name of the NGO said he is not sure if the NGO that is footing the bill has links with the Delta State Government. Omonigho Ibrahim was attacked by the dog September 29, 2014.

The lawyer spoke just as the Lagos State Government issued a statement that the boy has been forcefully discharged from the Burns & Plastic unit of LASUTH against medical advice by his father, Mr. Odia Abraham .

Speaking on the development, Odia Abraham dismissed allegations that the boy was forcefully discharged. He said everything wen t smoothly. According to him the NGO responsible, Global Initiative Abuja will visit the Ministry of Health, Lagos State to thank the state government on Tuesday.

“If they were fighting, will they be coming to Lagos”, he said. He told our reporter on phone that it was just that the NGO moved faster than the Lagos State Government and that a thank you letter has already been written to the Lagos State to thank the governor, the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and the NGO.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who made this known today said the boy’s father took ill-advised step and chose to take his son out of the hands of the plastic surgery specialists in LASUTH on Friday, 28th of November, 2014 against medical advice after being thoroughly counseled that healthy granulation tissue growing on his son’s skull must not be interrupted.

He said all attempts to talk Mr. Abraham against taking this wrong step were rebuffed by the man who even signed necessary papers to show his desperation.

Idris said that the attention of the Lagos State Government particularly the Governor was drawn to the case of the boy, who was initially rushed to the Igando General Hospital, where he was stabilized and wounds cleaned by the medical team at the Accidents & Emergency ward of the hospital.

The Commissioner added that Omonigho was thereafter referred to the Burns & Plastics unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where Specialists in Plastic Surgery assessed him and promptly began to manage the life threatening avulsion injuries on his scalp which left most of his skull exposed.

The plastic surgery team, he said, placed the boy on Intravenous medication, Intravenous fluids and daily wound dressing in order to ensure that health granulation tissue can grow and cover the scalp before a skin graft can be successfully performed, stressing that the definitive management of Omonigho’s type of extensive and deep wounds is a skin graft.

He said the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has directive that Omonigho should receive the best of care at no charge to his parents or family members, adding that Mr. Odia Abraham; Omonigho’s father was thereafter invited to the State Ministry of Health where he received full re-imbursement for expenses he incurred previously in the management of his son’s health.

“He was given a full exemption from paying any fees for the management of his son’s health at LASUTH during his stay there and Omonigho while recovering wrote a little “thank you” letter to the Governor”, Idris noted.

Idris noted that whilst conservative wound management was being done in the Burns and Plastic Ward, in LASUTH, the Lagos State Government set plans in motion to take Omonigho abroad for further management after a thorough search, a suitable hospital was found that would care for the young boy.

“The chosen facility was the RAK Hospital, Dubai UAE. LASUTH established a communication channel with RAK Hospital and it was determined that Omonigho would require a meshed skin graft coverage of the exposed skull for the next phase of his management. The Governor thus approved the funds for the management of Omonigho, which includes traveling, feeding and accommodation at the Rak Hospital in Dubai, UAE”, the Commissioner stated.

He noted that the boy’s father was promptly informed of the plan and was invited to the State Ministry of Health to discuss the details of the approval, travel plans and hospital arrangements, and was thereafter given a letter of approval stating the plans to fly his son abroad and was asked to provide his son’s passport with an accompanying family member in order to process visas and other travel requirements.

“However, Mr. Abraham informed us that a Non-Governmental Organisation from Delta State has made arrangements to fly him and his son for medical treatment at a hospital in India. He was counseled on the benefits of receiving the package offered by the Lagos State Government and was also advised to put forward his decision as soon as possible so that the necessary arrangements can be made to transfer his son and a family member of his choice to Dubai for the treatment”, the Commissioner noted.

He added that the State government, in an effort to ensure the best care possible for Omonigho, also offered to support Mr. Abraham if he would rather go to India, in the hope that he would be getting the best care possible from the unnamed hospital in India, being sponsored by the NGO.

The Commissioner noted that Mr. Abraham however, for reasons best known to him chose to take his son out of the hands of the plastic surgery specialists in LASUTH on Friday, 28th of November, 2014 against medical advice.

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