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| BEFORE AND AFTER - AN ARMED ROBBERY: One year after armed
robbers attacked him at his home, Sackie Nyanquoi, 18, has been hospitalized since April 17, 2008 where he has undergone over
six different surgical procedures. According to medical reports, he now needs to undergo multiple plastic surgeries which
can only be performed abroad. |
Monrovia
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Sackie Nyanquoi, is still lingering in pain at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Medical Center, one year two months after armed
robbers attacked him at his home by pouring raw acid liquid on his body, leaving him completely deformed, and having to deal
with the agony of living in constant pain.
The victimized Sackie, 18, has been hospitalized since April 17, 2008 where he has undergone over six different surgical
procedures. According to medical report, he now needs to undergo multiple plastic surgeries which can only be performed abroad.
It is in this vein, however, that the humanitarian effort of a Liberian based in the United States of America has
resulted in arrangements which have been finalized with another doctor— Dr. Frederick T. Work, a plastic surgeon.
According to report, the only hold up is securing the required funds to have Nyanquoi sent to the United States
for the surgery.
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FATAL RECALL: "When I awoke
from sleep, my father cut one of them in his hand and the cutlass dropped from him on the floor. When I bent down to
pick up the cutlass, one of them wasted the raw acid water on me. It was like real fire when the acid wasted on me; I had
no shirt on me because I was sleeping without a shirt due to the heat in the house. My eyes all came out. I couldn’t
see anything at all.
Sackie Nyanquoi, 18, on the night armed robbers wasted acid water on him and changed
his life forever. |
Dr. Bartum Kulah, who has been so compassionate about Sackie’s
desperate situation, said the plastic surgeon has agreed to perform Sackie’s plastic surgery at an estimated cost of
between US$25,000.00 to $75,000.00. The final cost, according to Dr. Work, will be the result of an actual physical exam
to determine the number and the extent of procedures to be performed. However, Dr. Kulah stressed that the least amount
would be US$25,000.00 and the maximum would be US$75,000.00.
Dr. Work who has more than 20 years experience in both General Surgery and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, is
said to be one of the best plastic surgeons in the State of Georgia. He is the Medical Director and Senior Surgeon at Atlanta
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He has agreed to repair the deformities of Sackie’s eyes, nose, neck and face,
which are the most critical parts.
According to Sackie, six surgeries have been performed on him, with Dr. Robert Dennis performing four of them, while
Dr. Peter Coleman performed the other two surgeries,
‘Pain too much for me’
“But after each of these operations, the pain can be too much for me,” says Nyanquoi.
Nyaquoi adds: “The neck is pulling the mouth down, making it difficult for me to even stretch my neck a little
or to look right or left.” Sackie who was an eighth grade student, prior to the occurrence of the deadly armed robbery
says he is unable to turn right or left due to a contracture/scar which has formed between his neck and mouth as a result
of the wound caused by the large amount of acid that was poured on that part of his body.
“Every time they tried to release the contraction, it can be worse. So they can be forced to put it back. And
this is how I have been in this terrible pain for the past one year and two months”, Nyanquoi laments.
In the wake of increasing armed robbery in the country that has taken its toll indiscriminately on all sectors of the
entire Liberian citizenry, teenager Nyanquoi is only one of several victims that have fallen prey to it. In recent
months, especially for the past few weeks incidences of armed robbery have engulfed the Capital and its environs with the
latest victims being Montserrado County Representative Richard Holder and Bentol City Mayor Henrietta Nyea’s son in
Bensonville on Wednesday morning in which the latter was killed. Throughout last night the capital was again terrorized by
this ugly act.
| HOW TO HELP |
In
response to Sackie’s plight, those that want to make a contribution in the US can do so by sending an email
with amount and date to Dr. Work whose email address is aprsc@me.com. FPA will keep a tally of all contributors as we keep an update on the story from time to time when the targeted goal is
reached.
Meanwhile, those wanting to make contributions in Liberia can use this medium for now until the ECOBank
account can be established in Monrovia later.
Thanks for your contribution and remember that “Blessed is the hand that giveth”.
Dr. Work's Address is:
APRSC
One Baltimore, Place Suite 400
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
Telephone Number 1-404- 885-9675
Those in the US, Europe and other parts of the world can send check or money order directly to the office address or
via western union while those wishing to acquire more information can contact Dr. Bartum Kullah on his telephone number which
is 001- 770-979-8788 or email him at: kulahb@bellsouth.net. |
When a visitor stopped by to seek Nyanquoi at the JFK Hospital recently, it
was obvious that his stay at the hospital for over 14 months without any further improvement is no longer necessary.
He is currently not on any meditation, or any pre-medical care leading to the needed plastic surgery. He disclosed he
has been advised by the Hospital Administrator to remain there, as they hope that one of these days a plastic
surgeon might come to Liberia.
Frantic efforts to get in touch with the JFK administrator- or the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) continues to drag on
due to what their respective assistants allude to as busy schedules.
Dr. Kulah told FPA: “It will require a good amount of money to get him to the States, and to cover medical costs.
Please, let all Liberians chip in to defray the costs. Let us all rally around this young man to get him healthy and back
in school.”
No one’s showing concern
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URGENT
PLEA: "I really want to go back to school. I’m asking the government, NGOs and all citizens of this country including
Liberians all over the world to help me. I’m really suffering and I need to go back to school. This is not how I was
looking (as seen in the two different photos) and I can feel very bad whenever I see myself in the mirror. Please, I need
the help of everybody, anybody." |
Sackie says that for the past one year
and two months, no one has shown any real concern, except for one or two instances in which Information Minister Laurence
Bropleh promised to intervene following a recent trip from the United States. Also a local talk show host named JKorvah
Beyan of Truth FM sent out an SOS call on a program called ‘Solution Night’ sometime last year, to no avail.
Despite all of the appeals, Nyanquoi explains: “When I called on JKB show, only one fellow named Michael came
and promised to put my information on the internet since which he did, anyway. But since then, no one has come here, not even
the police or the Government”.
“It Was Like Real Fire When Acid Wasted On Me”
Narrating the entire incident, Nyanquoi says about seven armed robbers, excluding some who were positioned outside,
entered his family’s residence on Perry Street during the early morning hours of April 17, 2008. He explained
that while they were asleep, the robbers made their way into the house, but his father challenged them and struck one of them with
a cutlass, but the cutlass dropped on the floor.
“When I awoke from sleep, my father cut one of them in his hand and the cutlass dropped from him on the floor.
When I bent down to pick up the cutlass, one of them wasted the raw acid water on me. It was like real fire when the acid
wasted on me; I had no shirt on me because I was sleeping without a shirt due to the heat in the house. My eyes all came out.
I couldn’t see anything at all. The acid almost ate the eyes. Thank God I am seeing with them. I began to roll all on
the floor because of the pain just like real fire. They brought me here to JFK and started to waste water on me. Some of the
acid got into my mouth, but thank God it did not go deep inside”, Nyanquoi says.
He explained that some of the acid water wasted on his father but since his (Nyanquoi’s) situation was worse he
was hurriedly taken to the JFK Hospital—thanks to a neighbor whose car was used to transport him during such ungodly
hours. He explained that the neighbor, owner of a local motel in the community, had been attacked too but the sake of humanity
still gave him the urge to take him (Nyanquoi), to the hospital because there was not a single moving vehicle on the street
during that night.
Nyanquoi narrates that due to the brave fight put forth by his father and the serious injury he inflicted on one of
them with the cutlass, they did not enter the house but rather extended their terror to other houses in the community.
“My father spent about three weeks here at the hospital and was later discharged since his situation was not too
bad like mine”, Nyanqyuoi says.
Nyanquoi says that his father is an employee of the National Port Authority (NPA) but did not specify which department
or division he works in at the port. “My mother is not working at all. My father’s income is not enough to carry
us (a family of five—including three children) through a whole month”, Nyanquoi says.
Pleading For Help
“I really want to go back to school. I’m asking the government, NGOs and all citizens of this country including
Liberians all over the world to help me. I’m really suffering and I need to go back to school. This is not how I was
looking (as seen in the two different photos) and I can feel very bad whenever I see myself in the mirror. Please, I need
the help of everybody, anybody”, pleaded Nyanquoi as he struggled to hold back his tears.
Surgical Fund—An Initial Step
In order to restore Sackie Nyanquoi to normalcy, Dr. Kulah who has taken so much interest in the story of humanity disclosed
to FPA via an email exchange that he met with Senator Clarice Jah, the Head of the Senate Health Committee on Thursday, May
21, 2009. Describing the meeting as a very productive one, he said that the Senator has pledged US$500.00 as her contribution
toward Sackie’s plastic surgery project.
“Therefore it sends a very positive sign. I think that all other Liberians, the legislators, senators, cabinet
members, bishops, pastors, civil servants, businessmen/women, as well as ordinary Liberians work with her in the fund raising
effort. I've asked that she works with Dr. Tomarken (who released the medical report at JFK) and open a deposit-only account
at Ecobank to be called "The Sackie Nyanquoi Surgical Fund". She could go on radio and television and call on her colleagues
and the general public to follow her lead”, he said.
Kulah suggests that such fund would be a continual process which could be used in the future to aid the next victim,
as is done in the advanced world.
“After Sackie this fund could be renamed to help the next victim of acid attack. This is how it's done in the
real world. I believe that it is about time that we join the rest of humanity in looking out for our fellow citizens”,
Dr. Kulah concluded.
Reporter Nat Nyuan-Bayjay can be reached at nbayjay@frontpageafrica.com or 06- 402-737
