Sept. 3, 2023

Mrs. Deborah Abiodun, mother of a 13-year-old boy whose small intestine got missing during treatment at Lagos hospitals says she is not attempting to blackmail the Lagos State Government.

Abiodun made the clarification in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.

She said that her intent for crying out for help in the viral video was to save her son’s life, noting that Adebola (her son) required urgent transplant to save his life.

“According to the statement from LASUTH that I saw, they said I’m trying to blackmail the state government. How?

“I don’t think any mother will want her child to die when there’s still a solution. I’m not blackmailing the state government and I’m not blackmailing anyone.

“What I’m saying are the things I observed. I’m still appealing to the state government to help me because Adebola needs urgent transplant.

“He’s emaciating every day because his system can’t take in nutrient. He’s vomiting and has been on TPN (Total parenteral nutrition).”

TPN is complete nutrition delivered intravenously to people who can’t use their digestive systems at all.

She said: “The government has the influence, information and resources.

That’s why I’m appealing to the government to help me save Adebola while he’s alive.

“The boy has a strong will to live. He keeps asking me, “Mummy, when am I going back to school”? He’s not seeing himself as someone passing through pain. He believes he will scale through it.

“He clocked 13 years on Aug. 9; missed his Common Entrance Examination because he’s been in the hospital for almost three months.

“That’s why I’m appealing while he’s alive, not when something happens and they will now pay condolence visits or send messages.

“Adebola is a citizen of Nigeria, and a resident of Lagos State. Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is our father in Lagos State. That’s why I’m appealing to him.

“Let’s help Adebola while the situation can be salvaged. I know that no parent wants to lose his/her child. That’s why I’m begging the government to intervene and help me save Adebola’s life,” Abiodun cried.

Abiodun said that she also wants justice, saying, “how can small intestine get missing in a child without anyone being held accountable for it?,” she said.

She told NAN that LASUTH was cooperating as regard getting medical reports that would assist in facilitating further treatment abroad, noting that she would pick the report on Sept. 4.

Abiodun appealed to kind-hearted Nigerians to support her financially to save her son, while expressing her gratitude to those who had assisted them.

Narrating her ordeal, Abiodun said her son had undergone surgeries for Appendix rupture and intestinal obstruction at Obitoks Medical Centre situated at Ile-epo, Alimosho, Lagos.

Following complications from the surgery at Obitoks Hospital, Abiodun said her son was referred to LASUTH on June 17 for intestinal obstruction with perforated viscus.

An intestinal obstruction refers to when something is blocking one’s intestine, and food and stool may not be able to move freely, Johns Hopkins Medicine says.

A perforated viscus is also known as an intestinal or bowel perforation.

It is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the wall of the gastrointestinal tract ruptures and the enteric contents leak into the peritoneal cavity (e.g., the space between the abdominal wall and the internal organs), thereby causing severe abdominal pain, the osmosis.org says.

Abiodun said that after the surgery at LASUTH on July 14, she was informed by the surgeon that Adebola’s small intestine was missing, querying both hospitals on the whereabouts of her son’s intestines.

Reacting to the allegation of missing small intestine, the management of LASUTH in a statement said the hospital conducted a life saving, corrective and reconstructive surgery.

“During the reconstructive surgery that our consultant paediatric surgeon and her team carried out, certain strange and shocking findings were observed.

“Thank God, a video recording of the procedure was made.

“The mother of the patient was informed about the findings, which were obviously from the previous surgeries, but she remained in denial.

“At the appropriate time, the video will be shown,” the hospital said.

LASUTH said after the allegations, it set up an investigative panel, noting that the outcome of the investigation showed that its surgeons were not culpable of removing structures from the patient.

It said that a government regulatory agency was also currently investigating the incident, noting that the hospital was cooperating and had submitted all relevant documents.

“The patient is still under our care. A team of highly skilled and excellent paediatric surgeons were involved and had continued to offer commendable post surgery care,” it said. (NAN)