Xenophobia: How South African Hospital Rejected Football Fan Victim (Read Shocking Details)

A South African Hospital (Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto) allegedly frustrated the efforts of the Cross River State Government to fly a football fan victim to South Africa following the electrocution of football fans at a viewing centre in Calabar.

Mr Ferdinand Anok until he passed on Tuesday was an Inspector of Immigration with the Cross River State command who was among the eleven (11) football fans that sustained various level of injuries at a make shift viewing centre when a high tension cable fell on the roof.

They were watching the Europa League match between Manchester United and Anderlecth on April 20, 2017.

Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River after visiting the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) where some of the victims were taken to ordered that Anok be flown abroad for specialist medical attention.

The Cross River State Ministry of Health according to a Press statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ayade, Mr Christian Ita, and made available to DAILY POST contacted a hospital in South Africa (Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto).

“The hospital instructed that state government to make a deposit before they can process a letter of acceptance for Mr. Anok’s visa approval. The state government duly acceded to the request and deposited the required amount.”

Shockingly, Mr Ita revealed that after the payment had been made, the hospital management rejected Mr. Anok saying they do not accept foreigners in their facility. “A clear case of xenophobia” CPS lamented..

Consequently, the state government communicated with International SOS who in turn linked the government with several specialist hospitals abroad with capacity to manage the degree of burns Mr. Anok suffered and of which hospitals in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and India indicated interest in his management.

“Apollo Hospital, India was the first to send in a letter accepting to manage him. Following this the government took Mr. Anok to the Indian embassy to get a visa where three days were spent trying to regularise documents due to the peculiarity of the case”

But Mr Ita lamented that it was a Herculean task getting him on board the aircraft because of the degree of burns. It took almost two months for Mr. Anok’s international passport to be returned from the Indian embassy and in between government was in constant communication with them.

“By the time the visa was ready his case had deteriorated, despite constant optimal specialist care, including multiple surgeries, debridement, fasciotomy and colostomy in UCTH Calabar and General hospital Calabar” Ita said.

“Doctors were preparing him for fitness to travel before he drifted into a comatose state. Sadly, all attempts to improve his Glasgow Coma Scale proved abortive and he finally passed on”. Daily Post has exclusively reported that Anok’s death brought the total number of the victims that died to eight. The victims of the tragic incident were hospitalised at the UCTH for various degrees of injuries.

It was gathered that of these numbers (11 persons) hospitalised; six have been discharged while four were still on sick bed. The Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Prof. Thomas Agan confirmed the dead of Anok in a telephone interview. He said he was called around 2am to be informed about the death. “I was called at around 2am to be informed that he has passed on” he said.

The mother of the deceased, Mrs Maria Mbua-Bisong said her son died around 1am on Tuesday at the UCTH. Hear her, “Over two months now, my son has been under serious heart pains. We have been moving from one hospital to the other. The pains were increasing by the day. After over two months of the incident, he finally gave up at around 1am”

The Police at the time of the incident confirmed that seven person died in the incident that happened around 9.30pm at Nyagasang, Atimbo area in Calabar Municipal local government area of the state.

Source: Gistsville
Xenophobia: How South African Hospital Rejected Football Fan Victim (Read Shocking Details)

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