Mercy Nnadi, the lady who was allegedly burnt and brutally stabbed by her husband, Henry, on April 8, 2012, is in desperate need of medical surgery, PUNCH Metro has learnt.
Our correspondent learnt that 38-year-old Mercy is still in excruciating pain at the New Evolution Hospital, Okota as a result of the intensity of burns she sustained from the hot pressing iron her husband placed all over her body because he suspected she was having an affair with his father.
A doctor at the hospital said, the third-degree burns she sustained had done extensive damage to her body and she urgently needed skin graft.
The doctor, who craved anonymity, said although Mercy had been stabilised, her case required the attention of a burn specialist.
Director of Project Alert on Violence Against Women, Dr. Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, said the ongoing strike had made it difficult to find a specialist.
She said, “Project Alert on Violence against Women, in collaboration with Centre for Organisational Development, and Nigeria and Zahara Women Foundation are working round the clock to ensure the victim gets specialist medical care for her third-degree burns.
“In view of the ongoing strike by doctors and other health workers in Lagos State, we have been trying to identify a Burns Surgeon with any of the major government hospitals, such as Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, to attend to Mercy in a private hospital. Arrangements for this are almost finalised, as a Burns Surgeon has been identified, and Mercy would soon be moved to a private clinic.
“Mercy requires to be monitored closely, for the burns to heal well, and thereafter, skin grafting, particularly in her breast and chest region which seemed to have defied all manner of treatment. Her thigh, from where skin should be gotten for grafting, is also burnt and needs healing.”
Effah-Chukwuma urged members of the public to assist in paying Mercy’s medical bills, adding that the road to her recovery was a long and difficult one.
“To help meet the victim’s medical expenses, an account has been set up for her and we are appealing to well meaning Nigerians and organisations to support the victim with whatever they can, as no amount is too small,” she said.
Henry, the husband of the victim, allegedly killed their one-year-old son, Ebuka, and has been remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prison.
Effah-Chukwuma said members of the public, particularly women, should learn from Mercy’s experience, adding that domestic violence should not be tolerated.
She noted that although Mercy had reported her husband to the Okota Police Division on various occasions, she should have left the marriage when her husband did not change.
She said, “Mercy had been suffering at the hands of her husband for a long time before the incident and had she left the marriage on time, this wouldn’t have happened and her son would have been alive.
“Even till now she does not know that her son is dead because if we tell her, she probably would stop fighting for her life and could die.”
source: punchng.com
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