December 4, 2024 is a day that will remain indelible in the mind of Mr. Zaid Odutemowo, an Agege, Lagos-based bread baker.
On that day, he went out like he always did, distributing bread to customers on his motorcycle. The day, however, ended on a sad note as he was knocked down by a vehicle as he was returning to his Agege base from Ikeja.
Eight months after, he is still grappling with the pains of the accident and now faces the grim prospect of having his arm amputated unless he is able to raise the sum of N1.5 million for the needed surgery.
Speaking with The Nation at his Ota, Ogun State residence during the week, Odutemowo said his life has practically been put on hold for eight months while his wife, a petty trader, has been the one carrying the family’s responsibilities.
Now, he said, her shop has become empty and the family lives largely on charity.
Odutemowo said: “I was knocked down by a vehicle since December 4 last year. It was on the section of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway between Dopemu and Cement bus stops.
“Unfortunately, the driver of the vehicle made no attempt to even stop and see what had happened to me.
“As the vehicle hit me from behind, I suddenly found myself on the ground. I got up to pick up my motorcycle only to find that my left arm had broken badly as the bone in my left arm was dancing inside my skin.
“I sat on the road divider and was feeling dizzy as if I was going to collapse.
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“Luckily, a man in army uniform showed up and asked me what happened. I told him that I had just been knocked down by a hit-and-run bus driver.
“The soldier, who was also on a motorcycle, parked his bike and pushed mine to the nearby Aluminium Village.
“With his own bike, he took me to a hospital at Mangoro area. At the hospital, I was given a bill of N30,000 but I could only give them N20,000, following which they gave me injections and drips.
“The kind soldier returned later and told me that it was better for me to approach local bone setters because of the serious nature of the injury.
“Following his advice, we left the hospital and headed for Agege to a local bone setter at Morikas area named Abdullahi, who told us that the affected bone had broken into pieces.
“The bone setter admitted me and said the treatment would cost N200,000. But we haggled until he agreed to take N100,000, because we know each other.
“The bakery where I produce bread is situated in the same area.
“He commenced treatment immediately, but it took him more than two months to replace the bandage and I was feeling very uncomfortable.
“By the third month, I left his place and approached another bone setter on Alowonle Street in Agege.
“That too said he would collect N350,000 for treatment, but we told him that the arm was already being treated and we haggled until he agreed to take N70,000.
‘Curiously, by the fourth month when I went for x-ray, the bone setter saw the result and was alarmed.
“He admitted that the injury was too serious to be handled by him, saying we should take it to the hospital for proper surgery.
“He said if he continued the treatment, it was possible that flesh would grow in the wide gap between the two ends of the broken bone and that could warrant amputating the arm.
“He said in the alternative, I could go back to the local bone setter that started the treatment, but he personally would not take the risk of continuing the treatment.
“Following his advice, I returned to the local bone setter that started the treatment. That was in April this year.
“Of course, the local bone setter was angry that I left him in search of another bone setter.
“Seeing that he was not willing to take me back, I approached two elderly men in the area to help me beg him.
“I had to cook up a story that I lost my mother and had to travel to the village, and I was away for more than one month before returning to Lagos.
“He was angry that the progress the broken arm had made while he was treating it had been reversed where I took it to.
“But he re-admitted me all the same and decided to dress the arm again. That was when I really saw how serious the injury had become.
“When I expressed worries about the condition of the broken arm, he said I only had myself to blame because the arm would have healed in four months if I had stayed with him.”
Odutemowo recalled that late last month (July), a brother of his expressed worries about the arm in a discussion with his friend.
“He (brother’s friend) gave me money to go for another x-ray so we could know the exact condition of the arm.
“By the time we saw the result of the x-ray, I realised that there had not been any improvement in the arm’s condition beyond what it was in April.
“Now the doctors are saying that I need to do proper surgery, which they say would not cost anything less than N1.5 million.
“I have no way of raising such a huge amount of money now. To even feed my family has become a big challenge because I have not been able to engage in any meaningful venture since the accident occurred about eight months ago.
“My wife, a petty trader, now has nothing left to sell because we have used all her money to feed.
“I am also indebted to many people already and have no way of repaying them now.
“That is why I decided to cry out to kind-hearted Nigerians to come to my aid.”
Odutemowo pleaded that any donation to his cause should be sent to his Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) account number 0118341757. Telephone: 09137744725.