If 34-year-old Patrick Utomi, a native of Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, had the premonition of the fate that awaited him on September 7, 2002, he would have opted to remain at home.
But for someone, who depended on daily income for survival, everyday counted. So, on the fateful day, Utomi, a newspaper vendor, set out for his business place at Ilasamaja on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway of Lagos State.
But while on the road, the brake of a trailer failed and rammed into Utomi. He was severely injured and fell into a coma. Although some of the eyewitnesses thought he was dead, a few ones insisted that he should be taken to the hospital.
At the first hospital where he was rushed to, Utomi told PUNCH METRO that he was rejected on account of his critical condition. But a doctor at the hospital advised that he should be taken to a general hospital.
At the general hospital, Utomi said he was initially pronounced dead. But after a second look by an unnamed doctor at the hospital, it was discovered that he was only in a coma. The doctor asked that he should be admitted.
Utomi regained his consciousness after eight days and was on admission at the hospital for eight months. Despite the long stay on the hospital’s bed, the vendor’s condition did not improve.
His family members rallied round one another, taxed themselves; sold his parents’ plots of land; farmlands and other property to raise enough money to ensure his transfer to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Surulere, Lagos.
At LUTH, the consultants diagnosed multiple fractures and urethral injury resulting in the non-functioning of colostomy.
In a letter dated March 25, 2009, the Consultant Urologist, LUTH, Dr. K.H. Tijani, wrote that Utomi , after the accident in 2002, sustained extensive abdominal skin loss, multiple fractures and urethral injury.
Tijani said with the situation, Utomi could not pass urine and faeces through natural process but only through artificial openings in his abdomen.
The doctor said as a result of the sorry situation, LUTH performed a colostomy, a temporary surgical procedure to help rid Utomi’s body of waste until the condition was corrected.
In this procedure, the rectum is closed off and a stoma (an opening) is made in the abdomen so that waste can pass through it and into a colostomy bag.
He added, “Clinical and radiological evaluations confirmed a long segment complete structure of the posterior-urethra and a short segment incomplete structure at the bulb.
“The patient had a urethroplasty on March 16, 2004. Unfortunately, rectal injury was noticed during the procedure. An attempt was made to repair it. On March 17, 2004, an exploratory laparotomy and sigmoid colostomy was performed when there were doubts concerning the state of the rectal injury. He had a refashioning of the colostomy on May 20, 2004, due to non-functioning of the colostomy.
“At present, Utomi can only pass urine and faeces through the artificial openings in his abdomen. He will require at least two major surgeries as early as possible, that is, closure of the colostomy and urethroplasty in order to establish normal faecal and urinary flow. This will help prevent the long term complications of the artificial openings.”
According to Tijani, an estimated N6m will be required for the two surgeries to be performed in a United Kingdom hospital or India.
But Patrick told PUNCH METRO that since his agony started eight years ago, he had lost all his means of livelihood.
He appealed to well-meaning Nigerians, corporate bodies, non-governmental organisations, religious bodies and the government to come to his aid.
He said because of the protracted nature of his problem, his wife and some of his relatives had abandoned him to his fate.
Utomi lamented, “Most times I think about committing suicide. But when I looked backward at how God saved me on the fateful day, I would hold my peace. Surviving has been miraculous. Nothing is as painful as living an artificial life. On a daily basis, I use one bag of colostomy bag, which costs N1,500.
“Because I am living an artificial life, I cannot eat anything solid – I depend on pap, tea, water and occasionally, rice. I cannot urinate and defecate normally. There is uncontrollable bowel movement and that is why I use a bag of colostomy per day. If not for a group, Jeremiah Isaac Foundation, that has been helping me, life could have crueler than this.”
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