A humanitarian group, De Norsemen Club International, on Sunday, donated succour materials to indigent patients at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki and also offset bills of discharged sick persons, at the hospital.
National Panel reports that the beneficiaries, numbering more than four, were erstwhile sick persons of the AE-FUTHA, discharged two weeks ago, but had no money to pay their hospital bills.
The Governor of the Ebonyi State Chapter of the group, Okenwa Uka, stated this while handing over the items and receipts of the bills to the beneficiaries, saying the gesture was in furtherance to the theme of its annual event, in 2022.
He said, "We are members of De Norsemen Club International, a humanitarian service organisation, and we have branches in all parts of the world. And in Nigeria, the Club is present in all 36 states of the federation.
"Today is our humanitarian service day. It's a day we normally set aside to extend assistance to people, we feel in our hearts, that we are better than others. What we are doing here in Abakaliki (Ebonyi) today, is happening in Umuahia, Enugu, Asaba, Port Harcourt and other states of the country.
"Our theme for this year's event, "Health For All", represents why we are here at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki today. This is because we are to extend a helping hand to some discharged patients of the hospital, who for one reason or the other, have not been able to pay their hospital bills.
"In our little way, we are here today at AE-FUTHA to help these. It may not be big, but we are here to extend assistance to them, and also look out for people who consequent upon one or two reasons have been discharged but, need assistance to get back to their homes and then pay their bills. Some of our members work here and so, they helped us do a forerunner job to get the patients' details for us, to make things easier for us.
"We have buckets, detergents, toilet tissues and others to distribute to patients here. The idea behind this is, that, in the hospital, some patients can not easily move to the public convenience point to ease themselves. But with these buckets, they can ease themselves easily within the comfort of their hospital corner. This is just a little way of assisting them because if we didn't bring these to them, they still would have gone out there to them.
"Some of the patients we cleared their bills are Alo Mathew, Aleke Okwudili, Abang Sunday and Iteshi Lazarus. But the items are going to be distributed bed by the bed and wherever it stops, that's where we will stop. And somehow, we also got information that someone needs this adult's pampers. It came from one of us, outside this collective humanitarian love move of the Club. This is also to help this very patient currently suffering such a situation, that requires this item, to heave a sigh of relief. We also have a cash donation to another patient to assist him in his treatment."
One of the beneficiaries, Alo Mathew, described the gesture as an unusual show of love by the group for the downtrodden.
According to the Deputy Director of Nursing In-charge of Male Ward, Mrs Ohenle Julian-Ezinwanyi, the group's assistance to the beneficiaries was timely, adding they had suffered so much in the course of the sickness.
She said, "Patients at hospitals, not just here, are always faced with one challenge or the other. Except we start to analyse what patients go through, you will not understand. Maybe you have had sick ones here before, that's why you can muscle up this unusual courage to do this for these. It's not easy.
"People are suffering. If we go down now to the Orthopedic Ward, we see patients whose bills range from N150,000, N200,000 and even N250,000 and beyond. They have been here for more than four months. There is usually no hope in sight for them, except during the interventions of the state government through Fr. Nwali. These are happy. They have been discharged for the past two weeks now and you're coming to pay their bills, which has brought succour to them. They are happy.
"God will bless you people. This very pampers is not for an old man. It's for a young man. He was an inmate at the Nigerian Correctional Centre. I think he passed through trauma and all that, and then developed this current health challenge he's suffering. He can't control his urine and faeces and so, we are using pampers on him. Once again, may God bless you."
