Disabled Teacher Needs Help

An able-bodied teacher who was ran over by a heavy truck, rendering him permanently disabled is seeking help to undergo surgery.

The sad incident occurred on February 3, 2016 at the Suhum overpass roundabout where Alexander Adu Kankam, a teacher at Faaso Battor LA Junior High School in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District of the Eastern Region suffered serious injuries including a broken spinal cord which has rendered him paralysed.

His other colleague, however, could not survive the accident.

Mr. Kankam, narrating his harrowing experience to DAILY GUIDE appealed passionately for financial support to enable him lead a normal life again.

He said doctors had indicated that his spinal cord was broken when he was hit by the truck.

“It all happened at dawn on 3rd February, 2016 at the Suhum roundabout (over-head). I was on my way with a friend to board a car to Afram Plains where I teach,” he said amid tears.

“On our way, we saw a huge trailer trying to overtake a VIP bus under the over-head. Due to the narrowness of the road, the trailer skidded off the main road to the pedestrian walkway, running into my friend and I. I couldn't remember what happened after. I later found out that my friend has died,” he said.

He was the first to be sent to the Suhum Government Hospital and then to Koforidua St. Joseph Hospital where he was later referred to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

“At 37 Military Hospital, I was supposed to undergo two main surgeries on my right leg and to decompress my spinal cord,” he added.

Mr. Kankam said the first surgery on his right leg was successful but the second surgery was complicated due to the extent of injury on his back and even around the region where the surgery was supposed to be done.

After five months at the 37 Hospital, he was discharged to treat the wounds and report when they were healed but there was no money to do that

“My injury has made me lost control of my urine and bowel movement (toilet) and I have to battle severe pains, tingling and burning sensations which give me sleepless nights. It has also caused me and my parents to spend all we had,” he said, adding “Even through this, my mother died because she could not bear the shock.”

Mr. Kamkam said he is optimistic he will walk one day but said that will require support from the public.

FROM Daniel Bampoe, Suhum