A young Nigerian banker who went into coma back in
2013 months after arriving the United States of America has
passed on.
The lady identified as Ebere Ukwu died on Monday at the ICU
of Wake Medical Center in Raleigh North Carolina around
12:05am.
Ebere Ukwu, dreamt of elevating her life in America. She
wanted to experience the different culture and lifestyle of
North America. After she lost her job as a bank manager
during Nigeria’s financial meltdown, she decided to move to
USA, to live out loud. She embraced all things American. But
she never got a chance to romance the intrigues of life and
living here. On June 1, at 12.05 a.m, Ms. Ebere Ukwu’s dream
died with her inside the Intensive Care Unit of Wake Medical
Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. She had been in coma for
more than two years.
Her brother, Mr. Ezuma Ukwu, issued this statement when
contacted: “The news of her transition is devastating to the
family. On the 1st of June, I received a call at about 2.30am
Nigerian time from the medical staff that her condition had
deteriorated and by 5.20am another call came in that she had
passed on. We find solace in the fact that she made Christ her
Lord and saviour; she’s resting in His bosom. The vacuum left
by her cannot be filled, but we take solace in the fact that this
is only a transition to a place where we’ll all meet and never
to part again. We appreciate all those who have been with us
in prayers.”
She was an ambitious dreamer that wanted to explore her
young world and excel. The ICU room wasn’t supposed to be
her final destination. But early spring of 2013, her exciting life
of adventure suddenly collapsed during a visit to the
Emergency Room for minor aches, pain and high body
temperature.
Ebere arrived USA during the cold winter month of November
2012, in pursuit of life, liberty, happiness and opportunities.
She anchored her new residence at her sister in-law’s place in
Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta was not friendly to her dreams of
relocation and quick employment privileges. Ebere soon left
Atlanta for Maryland, at the invitation of an extended family
friend, to try few available menial jobs targeted towards new
immigrants wishing to settle into a different social structure
and culture. Ebere accepted an offer as a part time nanny. She
was frustrated by the lack of appeal and job satisfaction. This
wasn’t the job she expected from the land of dreams. Two
months after her first job, she quit. Ebere was diabetic. During
one of her daily chores as a nanny, she split her big right toe.
The small gash was infected, thus, it resisted casual self-
medication. But Ebere kept nursing the minor wound.
Ebere reconnected with Tunde Atiku, her sister’s ex-boyfriend
who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. She pleaded for Tunde’s
assistance with employment and a new life direction. Tunde
invited her to visit Raleigh and search for better employment
opportunities she desired.
Tunde Atiku, a registered nurse in Raleigh shared the stages of
Ebere’s life to the end of her time last week.
“Jebose, I met Ebere and her family during our university days
at Lagos State University. Her older sister and I were lovers.
The family welcomed me into their home. I was always around
them and I am grateful for those university days when their
home gave me love, comfort and a great girlfriend in Lara.
Years later, after our university education, we went separate
ways as life demanded. I moved to the United States. In
November 2012, Ebere called from Atlanta and informed me
she was in the United States. Her immediate desire then was
to legalise her stay in the country. She came into United
States with some money to help her settle her immigration
status. She didn’t want to marry to get her legal status. She
hoped for a real marriage. Thus, in Atlanta, she was
introduced to several suitors but she found none of them
serious. Employment was becoming a challenge; her finance
was draining by daily living and hustles in America. She
wanted to work; through a friend, Ebere found a baby-sitting
job in Maryland. She relocated to Maryland in April 2013 to
become a baby sitter to one Igbo lady, a mistress from hell.
She called me every day, complaining of her hardship, mental
abuse and threats from her employer. She would complain
about mistreatment and irregular payment from the lady. I
encouraged her to leave the job and relocate to Raleigh and
live with me. I promised to help find her a decent job, free
from daily verbal abuses and indignity. Ebere wanted the
American dream. She went through hard life in Maryland
because of this thing called the American dream. Jebose,
imagine your employer, a fellow Nigerian, threatening to call
the law on you because of your immigration status and
withholding your agreed income. Ebere took care of her boss’
three children and also did housekeeping for the family, yet
they tormented her.”
“While working as a baby sitter for this lady, she hurt her right
big toe. But she kept nursing the toe, using off the shelves
medication. But the toe got infected and bruised when she
came to join me in Raleigh. One week after her arrival here,
she knocked on my door one night and complained of severe
body and foot aches. Her right big toe was swollen. I
suggested we go to the hospital, she was scared because of
the silly stories she was told in Maryland that doctors and
nurses would report her to immigration if she visited any
hospital and she would then be deported. She was afraid that
she could be deported. I told her that what mattered most
was getting treatment for the toe. I convinced her that doctors
did not care about her immigration status before or after
treating her. Eventually, we went to an urgent care for initial
treatment. The nurse recommended we go to the E.R because
the toe had been infected and might need aggressive
treatment. We tried another urgent care for second opinion; it
was consistent with the first diagnosis. We then went straight
to the hospital on Sunday, April 28, 2013.
“We arrived at Wake Medical Emergency Room that afternoon,
waited for three hours before a doctor could attend to us. The
doctor told her that her toe had been severely infected and it
must be amputated. He also told Ebere that blood test on her
indicated she had diabetes. Because of her diabetic condition,
the infected toe had to be amputated in order to stop infection
from spreading all over her body. She said she didn’t want to
lose her toes and suggested antibiotic treatment. She told me
she was not married yet and couldn’t see herself walking
everywhere without a toe, as a single lady.
The hospital immediately placed her on admission. It
conducted a lab test on her and few days later, the lab result
showed she had kidney problem; her kidney was not
functioning properly. So the hospital determined it would flush
her kidney. Her blood sugar was very high, at 360 level. The
normal blood sugar is between 90 and 110. The hospital
pumped her with insulin, to control her sugar level. Her blood
pressure was considerably normal but the kidney and blood
sugar were continuously high for a long time. Because of
kidney problems and diabetes, the hospital determined not to
discharge her. Five days after she was admitted, I asked why
she hadn’t been discharged. She said the hospital was still
running tests.
“She called from the hospital to inform me that the pump that
the hospital used to pump medication into her, was affecting
her breathing pattern. I told her that fluids might have been
overloaded. I instructed her to complain to the hospital that it
was overloading her with fluids… she did and they removed
some of the pumps. She felt better. Few days later; the
hospital gave her the I.V. pump again. Ebere called and told
me. I advised her that if she wasn’t feeling well, she should
call them and ask that it should be removed.
“On May 12, 2013 at 5p.m, I called her hospital room but she
would not pick the phone. I called several times. No answer.
The next morning, I went to visit her, she had been moved
from her room. The hospital informed me she had cardiac
arrest the previous day. No one was monitoring her. Cardiac
arrest is brain damage. Her brain damage was 75 per cent.
The remaining 25 per cent was controlling just the internal
organs. The hospital immediately placed her on full life
support. After the cardiac arrest and while she was on life
support machine, the hospital cut her toes to remove the
bacteria in the system.
“Every day, I visited Ebere at the hospital and also discussed
with doctors about her condition with regards to her care.
Initially, the hospital wanted me to take her to a nursing home
or to an adult daycare centre. She didn’t deserve to be thrown
to a hopeless place. I refused to sign any documents to have
her removed from the hospital to any assisted living facility.
“Ebere suffered. When you have a brain damage, you are gone.
I told the family to allow the hospital to let her go. They left
her in the hands of the hospital. They should have pulled the
plug on her a long time ago. She spent more than two years
on life support machine. More than two years brain dead.
That’s sad. But she is at peace now. I blame the hospital for
her death. She walked into the hospital for care but died
hopelessly. WakeMed was negligent. There was no proper
monitoring of the patient while she was on I.V. How many
times did the hospital nurses assigned to her do ground
checks on their patient to make sure she was not in any pain
or in deterioration? I am a registered nurse. Nurses’ standards
and procedures require that checks of patients in critical units
be done every 15mins. Ebere was abandoned, she had cardiac
arrest with 75 per cent brain damage… if they were doing the
checks on her, they could have found her in pains and
difficulty in breathing, then quickly rescue her with treatment.”
[Source: Saturday Punch]