•Says, I don’t want to lose another child
From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
Two months after a gas explosion ripped through a filling station in Edibe-Edibe, Calabar South, Mr Anietie Ekere is fighting two battles: keeping his seven-year-old daughter alive and surviving the grief of losing a son. He has already buried one child and said he could not afford to lose another.
The gas explosion remained one of the deadliest fire incidents recorded in Cross River State this year.
Happiness Ekere, one of the survivors of the March 20 blast, remains on admission at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), wrapped in bandages from severe burns and struggling to walk.
“I have not seen anybody from the filling station since that day. Nobody has come to ask about my daughter or how we are surviving,” he said.
He alleged that the owner of the filling station has neither visited nor offered support since the explosion, which reportedly killed one person instantly and left several others injured.
Ekere, a daily-paid labourer, said his family now struggles daily with medical expenses.
“Even now, they still ask us to buy drugs outside the hospital pharmacy. Sometimes I spend about N10,000 in one day, excluding transport,” he said.
The burden deepened after his 15-year-old son, Solomon, died from injuries sustained in the same incident about a week later. Happiness recently underwent surgery, but doctors said another procedure that would cost over N1million is required.
“My daughter is still struggling to stand and walk. I don’t know where the money will come from. I just want her to survive,” he said.
A volunteer support group assisting the family said it has spent close to N1million on drugs, tests and consumables since March. The group acknowledged support from the Cross River State Government for aspects of the surgery but said daily treatment costs remain overwhelming.
Efforts to get a response from filling station management were unsuccessful at press time.
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