The lady pictured above allegedly fell
facedown into fire last weekend during one of her epileptic feet. Grace
Nakagulire fell facedown into fire after she had one of her attacks when
she went to the kitchen unsupervised. Her cousin who shared the photos
said the victim has been suffering epilepsy since she was 3-years-old.
She wrote;
CLICK HERE TO VIEW GRAPHIC PHOTO
My
cousin, Grace Nakagulire has lived with epilepsy since she was three
years old. Most of her life, she lived with her mother in the village.
She loves to crochet table clothes and chair covers with wool. She has
one child. Last weekend, Nakagulire went unsupervised to the kitchen
when tea-water was boiling. She got an epilepsy attack. She fell
face-down into the fire and sustained severe burns to her face and hand.
A relative found her lying unconcious in the fire. Fearing that the
worst had happened, she raised an alarm for help.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW GRAPHIC PHOTO
Villagers
gathered and advised my aunt not to go to hospital, but rather take
Nakagulire to a local herbalist in a neighbouring village. The police
from Buwama also came to the scene. They asked my aunt for Thirty
Thousand Shillings to transport my cousin to Nkozi Hospital. Upon
observing the burns and wounds on my cousin's body, doctors at Nkozi
referred her to Mulago Hospital. For Two Hundred Thousand Shillings, an
ambulance transferred her to the brand new facility of Mulago Hospital
located in Kiruddu, along Salaama Road.
I went twice to visit
Nakagulire at the hospital. I was very impressed. The spacious lifts
work perfectly. The tiled toilets are very clean and they flash.
Hospital admission and medical care are free. Admitted patients get a
free warm meal daily. The Intensive Care Unit on fourth floor is devoted
to only patients with severe burns and wounds. The staff on day-duty
are very kind. They let me in. I saw all sorts of patients: an
eleven-months'-old baby with a burnt face and arm, a youth severely
burnt by acid, a man burnt inside his house in an arson attack that
killed his two children, a builder electrocuted while working on the
roof of a house... The staff on night-duty are very strict. They barred
me and my kids from entering the ward. Fair enough!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW GRAPHIC PHOTO
Epilepsy
is still real in Uganda. Many Baganda still believe it is a cultural
illness which is only treatable using traditional therapies. It is
important to address the stigmatisation of people living with epilepsy.
Epileptic people can live full whole lives, when they adhere to medical
regimes. Families and carers of people living with epilepsy need our
support. In the event of severe burns due to falling into fires, the new
Mulago Hospital facility at Kiruddu has got expert staff and services
to provide requisite healthcare, even for people with epilepsy. I have
observed my cousin improving by leaps and bounds!
No comments:
Post a Comment