Renowned Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has accused a Lagos-based hospital of medical negligence, alleging that lapses in care led to the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu.
In an emotional personal statement released to a family member, Adichie recounted the events surrounding her son’s death, saying the tragedy occurred following a medical incident at Euracare Hospital on January 6. She said her son had initially shown symptoms of what appeared to be a cold while the family was in Lagos for Christmas, but his condition later deteriorated into a serious infection that required hospitalisation.
According to her account, Nkanu was admitted at Atlantis Hospital and arrangements had been made for him to be flown to the United States the following day for advanced treatment, with a medical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore already prepared to receive him. She explained that certain medical procedures were to be carried out in Nigeria ahead of the trip, prompting a referral to Euracare Hospital
Adichie alleged that complications arose during preparations for an MRI scan and the insertion of a central line, after which her son’s condition rapidly worsened. She said he was placed on life support, suffered seizures and cardiac arrest, and later died.
In the statement, Adichie expressed profound grief and blamed what she described as negligence for the loss of her child. She said:
“My son would be alive today if not for an incident at Euracare Hospital on January 6th.
We were in Lagos for Christmas. Nkanu had what we first thought was just a cold, but soon turned into a very serious infection and he was admitted to Atlantis hospital.
He was to travel to the US the next day, January 7th, accompanied by Travelling Doctors. A team at Johns Hopkins was waiting to receive him in Baltimore. The Hopkins team had asked for a lumbar puncture test and an MRI. The Nigerian team had also decided to put in a ‘central line’ (used to administer iv medications) in preparation for Nkanu’s flight. Atlantis hospital referred us to Euracare Hospital, which was said to be the best place to have the procedures done.
The morning of the 6th, we left Atlantis hospital for Euracare, Nkanu carried in his father’s arms. We were told he would need to be sedated to prevent him from moving during the MRI and the ‘central line’ procedure.
I was waiting just outside the theater. I saw people, including Dr M, rushing into the theater and immediately knew something had happened.
A short time later, Dr M came out and told me Nkanu had been given too much propofol by the anesthesiologist, had become unresponsive and was quickly resuscitated. But suddenly Nkanu was on a ventilator, he was intubated and placed in the ICU. The next thing I heard was that he had seizures. Cardiac arrest. All these had never happened before. Some hours later, Nkanu was gone.”
Adichie concluded by saying she would never recover from the loss of her child, as calls grow for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
