By Betty Idemudia, Reporting
THREE weeks after being delivered of a baby boy through Cesarean Section (CS), a woman is still being held hostage at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Ugbowo, Benin City, Edo State, over unpaid bills.
The middle-aged woman, Mrs. Grace Bassey and native of Akwa Ibom State, who’s the mother of the patient, is therefore sending a Save Our Souls (SOS) message to well-spirited individuals and organisations to help offset her daughter’s hospital bills.
Mrs. Bassey, while speaking to Stonix News, said the appeal became necessary following the continuous ‘detention’ of her daughter, Esther Bassey at the management of the tertiary health facility.
She told Stonix News that her daughter had gone into labour in June and was rushed to one Traditional Birth Attendant (ABT) for delivery.
According to her, after several days in labour, she was still not coming forth and when her condition was deteriorating, she was advised to take her daughter to UBTH.
Mrs. Bassey, who works as a labourer to a food vendor in Benin City, said her daughter was eventually delivered of a baby boy on 23rd of July, 2022 through a Cesarean Section (CS).
The baby, who was at birth taken to the Special Baby Care Unit (SBCU) for proper medical attention, has, since, been reunited with his mother in Bed Space 12, M1 Ward at the UBTH where she’s currently being held.
According to her, her family has been able to raise only N70,000 out of the incurred N500,000 medical bill at UBTH.
She said her continuous stay in the hospital would mean a daily increase in the already high, unaffordable bill.
Asked about the whereabouts of the father of the new born child, she said he was only able to raise N50,000 which he sent from Akwa Ibom State.
Mrs Bassey, who made the passionate appeal on her knees, said the burden of N500, 000 was way too much for her and her family to bear.
Stonix News, which packaged the story as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), reports that Mrs Bassey can be reached on 08163104434, 08036390133 for kind donations.
Meanwhile, the management of UBTH, which reportedly confirmed the development, would not allow our reporter to take photographs of mother and child in dire need.
What's your reaction?
