shot.â
âYou thought he was police, but he was one of the ââ
âOne of the Boko Haram members. I thought he was my colleague, and if he was my colleague, we would have run to safety. And maybe he wouldâve shielded me while we were running. But I never knew he was an enemy. They have invaded the barracks. They have taken over the whole barracks [...] The one I saw was carrying [an] AK-47, because I saw him very vividly, very clearly, before he shot at me. I never knew that he was going to shoot at me. In fact, I didnât even think in that direction. I did not.â
Later, as I asked him further questions on the details of what happened that day, he pleaded for me not to go on. âI donât want to recall this incident, honestly speakingâ, he said, his voice sorrowful. âI donât want to recall this incident [...] In this condition today, itâs very traumatic, very, very traumatic. I know what Iâm passing through. I know what Iâm passing through. I know what Iâve suffered.â
After his six months at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, he decided to return to Warri and begin looking into how he could travel to receive treatment. He had bought a wheelchair for himself, and he chartered a vehicle to drive south from Kano, reclining the front seat so he could lie back for the 11-hour journey, enduring the rough ride over Nigeriaâs poor roads. Once back home, his brother went on the Internet to research Fortis Hospital in India, which his doctors had recommended. He exchanged emails with doctors there who told him the cost of his treatment would be in the area of $10,000. With that in mind, Wellington calculated that he would have to come up with about $16,000. Including the money donated by Kanoâs state government, he was about $4,000 short. He said his family went to work trying to pull together thatamount and was eventually able to do so, and he began planning the specifics of his trip to India.
In November 2012, he took an Etihad flight from Lagos, and was able to sit in business class so he could be in a reclining seat. After a stop in Abu Dhabi, he and his wife landed in New Delhi, some 15 hours after leaving Nigeria. The hospital sent a van to pick him up at the airport, and once at the hospital, his consultant began a series of tests. The results were not good.
âSo finally, he now came out with this report and said that I have only one option now, that I did not come to Fortis in good timeâ, Wellington said. The spinal injury had apparently worsened, and the doctors informed him that the only option was stem-cell therapy, an experimental procedure. Plastic surgery was also needed to repair a worsening bedsore. The stem-cell procedure came first, lasting about three hours, though Wellington said he felt no pain, thanks to the anaesthesia. Several days later, he underwent plastic surgery for the bedsore. He said doctors told him that if he did not begin to feel sensation in his lower limbs in six months or less, he should return for another round of treatments. After a period of recovery, Wellington flew out of India on 31 January 2013, hopeful that he would eventually be back on his feet.
There was more trouble just after he landed back in Nigeria. His wife, while tending to him at his brother-in-lawâs house in Lagos, noticed that the plastic surgery for the bedsore had ruptured. He had also begun to develop new sores since he had been lying in different positions to allow the surgery to heal. They returned to Warri, again by road, and he decided to enter a health clinic in hopes that they could deal with the sores. He remained there for six months, receiving antibiotic injections and with nurses cleaning and dressing the wounds, before leaving in July. He paid a bill of 650,000 naira, or about $4,000, but the sores had not healed.
âThe wounds were infected, so they were giving me antibiotics, but the truth of the whole
âYou thought he was police, but he was one of the ââ
âOne of the Boko Haram members. I thought he was my colleague, and if he was my colleague, we would have run to safety. And maybe he wouldâve shielded me while we were running. But I never knew he was an enemy. They have invaded the barracks. They have taken over the whole barracks [...] The one I saw was carrying [an] AK-47, because I saw him very vividly, very clearly, before he shot at me. I never knew that he was going to shoot at me. In fact, I didnât even think in that direction. I did not.â
Later, as I asked him further questions on the details of what happened that day, he pleaded for me not to go on. âI donât want to recall this incident, honestly speakingâ, he said, his voice sorrowful. âI donât want to recall this incident [...] In this condition today, itâs very traumatic, very, very traumatic. I know what Iâm passing through. I know what Iâm passing through. I know what Iâve suffered.â
After his six months at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, he decided to return to Warri and begin looking into how he could travel to receive treatment. He had bought a wheelchair for himself, and he chartered a vehicle to drive south from Kano, reclining the front seat so he could lie back for the 11-hour journey, enduring the rough ride over Nigeriaâs poor roads. Once back home, his brother went on the Internet to research Fortis Hospital in India, which his doctors had recommended. He exchanged emails with doctors there who told him the cost of his treatment would be in the area of $10,000. With that in mind, Wellington calculated that he would have to come up with about $16,000. Including the money donated by Kanoâs state government, he was about $4,000 short. He said his family went to work trying to pull together thatamount and was eventually able to do so, and he began planning the specifics of his trip to India.
In November 2012, he took an Etihad flight from Lagos, and was able to sit in business class so he could be in a reclining seat. After a stop in Abu Dhabi, he and his wife landed in New Delhi, some 15 hours after leaving Nigeria. The hospital sent a van to pick him up at the airport, and once at the hospital, his consultant began a series of tests. The results were not good.
âSo finally, he now came out with this report and said that I have only one option now, that I did not come to Fortis in good timeâ, Wellington said. The spinal injury had apparently worsened, and the doctors informed him that the only option was stem-cell therapy, an experimental procedure. Plastic surgery was also needed to repair a worsening bedsore. The stem-cell procedure came first, lasting about three hours, though Wellington said he felt no pain, thanks to the anaesthesia. Several days later, he underwent plastic surgery for the bedsore. He said doctors told him that if he did not begin to feel sensation in his lower limbs in six months or less, he should return for another round of treatments. After a period of recovery, Wellington flew out of India on 31 January 2013, hopeful that he would eventually be back on his feet.
There was more trouble just after he landed back in Nigeria. His wife, while tending to him at his brother-in-lawâs house in Lagos, noticed that the plastic surgery for the bedsore had ruptured. He had also begun to develop new sores since he had been lying in different positions to allow the surgery to heal. They returned to Warri, again by road, and he decided to enter a health clinic in hopes that they could deal with the sores. He remained there for six months, receiving antibiotic injections and with nurses cleaning and dressing the wounds, before leaving in July. He paid a bill of 650,000 naira, or about $4,000, but the sores had not healed.
âThe wounds were infected, so they were giving me antibiotics, but the truth of the whole
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