PUNCH
As family members and associates lay the remains of Dr Vwaere Diaso, who died after an elevator crash, to rest, concerns over the state of Nigeria’s medical emergency response have come to the fore, UTHMAN SALAMI writes
On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, a young medical doctor, Vwaere Diaso, fell to her death after the elevator she was riding in lost control and tumbled down from the ninth floor of the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island.
Since then, several accounts of the accident have surfaced, with the official story stating she died in the elevator after the crash. However, multiple eyewitness accounts and family members have picked holes in the story.
Dr Diaso, who was meant to complete programme at the hospital two weeks before her death, was said to be alive for over an hour in the elevator after the collapse of the machine.
While the official account of the unfortunate event claimed she bled after sustaining serious wounds from the accident, eyewitnesses reported the deceased asked for help while she was still trapped in the elevator.
Other eyewitness accounts alleged the promising young woman died because of a shortage of blood after she was rescued and rushed to the emergency ward of the hospital.
In a report published by The PUNCH on August 3, 2023, one of the house officers in the hospital, Dr Ajuwon Olumide, submitted that the non-availability of blood at the general hospital contributed to Diaso’s death.
Olumide, who was part of those that rescued Diaso from the elevator, alleged that the hospital’s management was not proactive despite informing them immediately crash occurred.
He said, “We tried to open the elevator, but we were unable to. We switched it off and called the elevator’s maintenance team. They asked us to switch it off so that it would open, but it didn’t.
“We called the maintenance company in charge of the elevator and the maintenance unit within the hospital, but nobody came. For more than 40 minutes, nobody came to her rescue. We were not ready to give up and continued trying to open the elevator door. Just when we thought all hope was lost, the door opened a bit, and we saw her lying in a pool of blood.
“She kept begging us not to let her die. She was in pain and still bleeding profusely. We rushed her to the emergency unit, where she was placed on oxygen. It was discovered that she was bleeding internally and needed a blood transfusion, but there was no blood in the facility.”
The father of the deceased, Mr. Kennedy Diaso, corroborated this during a telephone interview with our correspondent. He accused the hospital of a deliberate attempt to kill his daughter and was perplexed as to how the hospital administration could take hours to unlock an elevator.
The heartbroken father also cited inconsistencies in the official report claiming his daughter died in the elevator.
He said, “If you do a proper investigation, you will see that it took them one hour to open a lift that fell to the ground. Was it a safe? It cannot even take one hour to open a safe.
“They said she died inside the elevator. Can a dead person ask for help? The reports are there. It says she died while they were trying to resuscitate her. It is right there in the paper.
“They killed my daughter. I don’t want to believe that they were that negligent. It was a deliberate attempt to kill her. I cannot fathom how she lost so much blood and blood was not administered to her. With the amount of blood that she lost, that was up to one bucket on the floor; and they will say that she did not need blood.
“What is the total blood volume in the human system? We will see whether they will not be charged with murder.
Blaming the management of the hospital, Kennedy continued, “They killed my daughter. I do not want to believe that they were that negligent. It was a deliberate attempt to kill her.”
“They said she died inside the elevator. Can a dead person ask for help? The reports are there. It says she died while they were trying to resuscitate her. It is right there in the paper.
“They killed my daughter. I don’t want to believe that they were that negligent. It was a deliberate attempt to kill her. I cannot fathom how she lost so much blood and blood was not administered to her. With the amount of blood that she lost, that was up to one bucket on the floor; and they will say that she did not need blood.
“What is the total blood volume in the human system? We will see whether they will not be charged with murder.
Blaming the management of the hospital, Kennedy continued, “They killed my daughter. I do not want to believe that they were that negligent. It was a deliberate attempt to kill her.”
