For Daniel Akornor, an auto-mechanic based in Darkuman, Accra, the past two years have been a nightmare that left him unable to function as a husband or a father to his wife and four children because of an acute ailment.
What started as pain in his left arm, one evening in 2020, turned out to be the prelude to months of paralysis. As his situation worsened, Mr. Akornor had to withdraw three of his children from school because he was not able to pay their fees or provide them with learning materials. Things were no better at home: the family found it hard to eat because Daniel, the breadwinner, could not work. He was bedridden and had to be bathed, fed and cared for like a baby. That was Mr. Akornor’s situation until Vodafone Healthline came to his rescue.
Jamila Isakah, Daniel’s wife, narrating the turnout of events explained that her husband came home one day during the COVID-19 lockdown complaining of pain in his arm. So, she applied an ointment to ease the pain but unfortunately he felt no relief. In less than a week Daniel could not walk, and his health kept deteriorating day in, day out.
Mr. Akornor explained that his condition forced him to travel to his father’s village to seek a traditional remedy since the events appeared to have a supernatural origin. After a month, when it became apparent that there was no relief forthcoming, Daniel consulted an herbalist in Koforidua who diagnosed the condition to be a stroke. Unfortunately, at the time of this diagnosis Daniel’s illness had taken a turn for the worse. According to him, the herbalist informed him that the stroke had already affected his waist, making it difficult for him to stand or walk.
After another month of consuming herbal medicines from the Koforidua facility with no improvement, Daniel visited the Achimota Hospital. After conducting a few lab tests at the hospital, the doctors declared his ailment was not a stroke.
They referred him to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, where doctors revealed he had an issue with his spine. They also explained that surgery was his only resort, as blockages in his veins were preventing blood flow.
“I could not sleep on my back for a long period as the burning sensation was unbearable. I would keep tossing and turning in my bed all night. I am tired of sleeping in bed day and night, always in pain,” he lamented.
Even though the doctors at Korle-Bu seemed to have a remedy for Mr Akornor, the biggest hurdle was funding.
Returning from church one Sunday, Daniel’s wife met an old customer who, after hearing about her predicament, promised to help them reach out to Vodafone Healthline for help.
As always, the Healthline team responded swiftly to the predicament. Thanks to Vodafone, Mr. Akornor will have a successful surgery and enjoy his life again. Daniel and his family were full of joy as they extolled Vodafone for rescuing them.
Diabetes Sensitisation
During the same episode, Dr. Florence Koryo Akomeah, Medical Director of the National Cardiothoracic Centre, touched on diabetes in adolescents. She explained diabetes is a chronic disease that affects how the body manages food or converts food to energy. But in simple terms, it means excessive sugar in the blood.
She explained that there are two variants – Type-one and Type-two – and either of them may occur in children or adolescents. Type-two is the most common and can run through a family.
Symptoms of the disease include children who are thirsty too often, urinate over three times at night, or experience drastic changes in weight depending on the variant of diabetes. She added that a common cause of blindness is diabetes; but that occurs after one has lived with the disease for a long time and does not stick to medication religiously.
During the myth-buster segment, the in-house doctors – Dr Aba Folson and Dr Kwakuma Yalley – debunked claims that hair and fingernails keep growing after death.
History of Heart Transplants
In the Today in History segment, Dr Yalley delved into the history of heart transplant in humans. He stated that the first heart transplant was attempted in 1905 and it involved a dog, not a human; but that provided some insight into the human heart.
In 1985, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng became the first Ghanaian to perform a heart transplant in Germany. He returned to Ghana in 1989 to establish the National Cardiothoracic Centre at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
This centre has trained several surgeons to serve the country’s cardiothoracic needs over the years.
