It is sad to hear that in 2016 in Nigeria, going to the hospital is a last resort for many. @tunji_olalere is sharing how a number of people have had to undergo amputations because rather than take injuries that would not cost much to resolve at hospitals, they took it to traditional bone setters, who messed things up.
See below:
We are about to amputate both gangrenous legs of an 11day old baby.
She was born club-footed and taken to a Bone Setter who tied them.— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
This is not the first leg that bone setters have ruined. But this is the most heart-wrenching for me.
The parents are gutted.— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
During my service year, I amputated up to 10 limbs.
Some of them had clean undisplaced fractures on the X-rays that required 500 Naira POP.— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
Some of these patients were the breadwinners of their families.
When I asked them why they chose the TBS over hospital, their reply was:— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
They were told that if they came to the hospital they would have their limbs amputated. It was a self-fulfilling prophesy.
A vicious cycle.— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
Our society thrives on word-of-mouth. Information is weighed on the stature of the informant not on the evidence supporting it.
— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
Our herd ignorance is very high. It behooves on us who have knowledge to reach out and not strut in this echo chamber of the middle class.
— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
We are a people given to superstitions and quick-fixes.
Our institutions have failed us. Let us rise up this challenge and save ourselves.— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
I am not against alternative medicine. They however have to be regulated like their orthodox counterparts.
These atrocities are numbing.— sàtó (@kumoekun) November 18, 2016
How sad.
