THE LIFE of a sixty-two-year-old security officer who was involved in an accident while on a national assignment with the former President, Jerry John Rawlings, during the 1979 revolution may be endangered if he fails to raise GH�7,200.00 for surgery at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
The poor treatment of the injuries sustained while on that national duty has affected his lumbar spine, and the drugs given him by the medics to facilitate the surgery he is afraid will paralyze him.
He was not able to meet the deadline of April 14, 2014, set by the hospital for the operation because he had no money. His greatest fear is that the medicine given him to prepare for the surgical treatment has begun weakening his limps and he may die soon.
�The office of the former president directed me to see a member of the council of state, Cecelia Johnson, to assist me but, I was turned down. Now, I have no one to fall onto. Is that what I get for serving the nation,� Samuel Odonkor quizzed while weeping in an interview with the Daily Heritage.
Sharing his plight with the paper, the limping man said while working with the Tema Food Complex as a security man during the coup d��tat in 1979, Mr. Rawlings rallied them to help the State.
�On that fateful day, we were returning with the former president after clearing overgrown weeds that had swallowed the Kwamoso Palm Plantation when the accident happened,� he recounted.
�John Azanaa, a colleague lost his life, but, I was unconscious when I was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital by Mr. Rawlings and Michael Akpatsu. I was in coma for three days,� he intimated.
According to Mr. Odonkor, he suffered retention of urine as a result of the accident which was corrected with surgery but, he spent every dime of money on him on medical bills.
He claimed that after the divestiture of the Tema Food Complex, upon pleas and orders from the ex-head of state, he was compensated with 1,410,000 old cedis, but, was paid in instalments because the management of the company claimed they were cash strapped.
�The Labour Department advised me to decline the offer the company was offering because it was a pittance. That money, was however, used for my medical bills because every three months the hospital needed to examine the bladder otherwise I cannot pass urine,� he grieved.
The ex-service man contended that since 1999, he has been petitioning the state, but, no one has come to his aid or paid him compensation after sacrificing his life for the nation.
He said he may be paralyzed for life if he does not undergo surgery by the end of next month because his medical problem has degenerated into a lumbar disease affecting his spine.
He is therefore appealing to the government to assist him to undergo the surgery before the worst scenario occurs.
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