A 21-year-old lady, Grace Adwoa Barnes, has, for the past three years, been unable to walk or sit upright after a vehicle accidentally reversed on the lower part of her body.
Her condition kept deteriorating by the day and she is currently suffering from severe back aches. She is unable to control her urine and passing of stool in consequence.
When The Chronicle visited the victim at home at the Christian Village in Ashaiman on Sunday to hear how she got into such a condition, Grace recounted that on May 6, 2018, she went for a stroll to the Destiny Park in her neighbourhood, where she relaxed for fresh air.
At the park, she said she might have dozed off when the vehicle reversed onto her.
She said the driver of the vehicle and some residents rushed her to the Tema General Hospital, but was later taken to a herbal centre at Odumsey, near Dodowa, Saint Joseph Hospital in Koforidua, and finally the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where due to default in payment, she has stopped going for treatment.
Grace said the driver of the vehicle which ran over her supported the family with GH¢17,000 for surgery at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to enable her walk again, however, because she had to undergo plastic surgery before the main surgery, that money had been exhausted.
The 21-year-old Junior High School graduate said efforts to get the driver to support them again had not been successful, and, therefore, called on public spirited persons to help her undergo the needed surgery to enable her further her education at the Senior High School.
The mother of Grace, Mary Esi Hawa, said it was tiring carrying her to use the potty and taking care of her generally.
The mother said she had quit her job in order to attend to her disabled daughter.
“In fact, we need both financial assistance and a wheelchair to facilitate her movement, because times are very difficult for me and my husband, as we have sunk our all in our daughter’s ill-health,” the mother begged.
When The Chronicle contacted the driver of the vehicle, Michael Owusu Akwetey, on the telephone on Tuesday, he said he had spent all his life savings since the incident occurred, and recalled spending his personal amount of over GH¢8,000 taking care of Grace at the herbal centre.
He said an insurance company paid GH¢5,000, his employers paid GH¢10,000, and he added GH¢3,900 making a total of GH¢18,900 for the victim for the surgery and her upkeep.
He said he was currently unemployed and so, though Grace’s condition is causing him sleepless nights, he is also at his wits’ end.
He also called on the public to support Grace to address her medical challenge so that both of them would have their normal lives again. Mr Akwetey lamented that it was frustrating frequenting the police station because of the accident.
At the Ashaiman Divisional Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) office on Tuesday, a police source confirmed that a Ford Escapade 4×4 private vehicle with registration number ER 2884-13 reversed onto the victim, Grace Adwoa Barnes, on May 6, 2018.
The police source said the vehicle was the property of Ecostar Environmental Services Limited.
The source said the case had delayed because the father of the victim, Joseph Ekow Barnes, had not been cooperating, as he wanted the focus to be on raising funds for his daughter’s medical bills, instead of prosecuting the driver.
The post Girl, 21, paralysed after being run over by a car appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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