Nicky Leweanya Izrael, a Lagos resident, has accused the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) of killing Nkechi Nkereuwem, his aunt, who gave up the ghost on Friday, March 29, while on admission in the hospital.

Izrael told FIJ that one of the doctors who attended to Nkereuwem asked him to donate blood because she needed to undergo a blood transfusion. Another doctor told him to purchase an oxygen cylinder.

He obliged, but no blood transfusion was done for his aunt, nor was she placed on oxygen.

Before Nkereuwem sought medical attention at LUTH, she had consulted the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute Metta, for treatment. Izrael told FIJ that FMC Ebute Metta ran a series of tests on her and informed him they suspected she had ovarian cancer and fibroid.

“They told me they could not treat her because the medical equipment they needed to treat her with was faulty. So, they said I should take her to LUTH. I asked them to give us a medical report we could present to the doctors at LUTH so they would know what had been done and continue from there,” said Izrael.

He told FIJ that a doctor at FMC Ebute Metta gave them a medical report, which he presented at LUTH, where they ran more tests on her. After running the tests, LUTH asked her to go home and return the following week, said Izrael.

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When she returned the following week, he pleaded with the doctors to admit her because he believed her health was in a critical condition and needed to be placed under medical supervision.

“I told them we were ready to pay for it because her condition was critical, but they disagreed and asked her to go home. I decided not to argue further because I felt they were professionals who knew what they were doing. The doctor said her next appointment was Tuesday, March 26,” he told FIJ.

On Friday, March 22, someone called to inform him his aunt’s health was deteriorating. Izrael told FIJ that he began panicking when he heard this and pleaded with the person to take his aunt to LUTH for prompt medical attention.

He told FIJ that when they got to LUTH, they refused to admit her, which made him livid. “Someone intervened, and LUTH eventually admitted her,” he said.

On Sunday, March 24, he got a call from his aunt’s carer, who was with her at the hospital. She called to inform him that a doctor said Nkereuwem needed to undergo a blood transfusion.

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“They told her there was no blood in the blood bank and gave her three locations where she could get blood. Gbagada was the closest on the list, but it was getting late, and I feared she would be stuck in traffic,” said Izrael.

Izrael said he was in Epe when he got the call but he had to rush down to Idi-Araba, where LUTH was situated, to see his aunt. When he got there, he saw someone wheeling in an oxygen cylinder, and when he asked what it was for, he was told his aunt needed to be put on oxygen because she was not breathing properly.

“I paid for the oxygen and went to meet with the doctor, who said she needed a blood transfusion. I was told I could donate because my blood group is O+, and I donated a pint of blood,” Izrael said.

On Friday, March 29, Nkereuwem’s carer called to inform Izrael she had given up the ghost.

“The caregiver told me that the doctors did not do the blood transfusion for her or use the oxygen cylinder I paid for. She also said no one was giving her attention, and when she noticed her condition was deteriorating, she asked to see Dr. Okunade, who was her consultant,” he said.

“She said she was told that Dr. Okunade was a very big person and not for people like her every time she asked to see him. “

Izrael told FIJ that when he arrived at the hospital, he asked why the doctors did not perform the blood transfusion or use the oxygen cylinder he had paid for.

“The doctor told me they should not have admitted her in the first place because she had Parkinson’s disease and they did not treat people with the disease. They also went through her file and told me she did not need to be put on oxygen or through a blood transfusion,” said Izrael.

“I told them to provide the doctors who told me she needed a blood transfusion and oxygen. They said the hospital was big and it would be impossible to single them out. So, I told them to check their records and bring all the doctors who had attended her so I could identify them.”

He added that he told them to call Dr. Walter to ask her questions but she denied ever attending to his aunt when she came around. He said he showed her one of the forms she had signed.

“She tried to exonerate herself and said it was a senior doctor that attended to my aunt and that she merely signed,” said Izrael.

Izrael also told FIJ that he refused to sign his aunt’s death certificate presented to him by LUTH because it would mean he had accepted his fate.

“I refused to sign because, while she was alive, no one at LUTH told me what medical condition she suffered from, but they wrote on her death certificate that she died from cancer, kidney disease and some other things,” he said.

“They told me to drop my phone number so they could contact me when they were done with investigations, but no one has called me from LUTH yet.”

When FIJ contacted the Servicom Department at LUTH, Dr. Alero Roberts answered and told this reporter to send them a message on WhatsApp.

After sending the message, she replied, “I have forwarded this to the management team. Servicom cannot (legally) respond to non-family. But thank you for raising this issue.”

FIJ emailed LUTH via [email protected] and contacted Olufemi Oladiran, who told FIJ he worked in the hospital’s public relations office.

Oladiran told FIJ that he received the email and that FIJ should expect a response from them. However, they had not responded at press time.