Friends of a Port Harcourt based blogger and social media influencer, known as Folorunsho Yemi, yesterday, stormed the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), to protest what they alleged to be negligence on the part of a staff of the hospital that led to the blogger’s death.

It was learnt that Yemi, who is a graduate of plant Science in the Faculty of Sciences in the University of Port Harcourt, was asthmatic and was supposed to partake in the forthcoming convocation ceremony on December 3.

It was gathered that the blogger in the early hours of Tuesday, November 29, suffered an attack and was rushed to the Teaching Hospital, wherein he was confirmed dead.

However, close friends who brought him to the hospital said he was alive upon getting to the hospital, alleging that the hospital officials did not expedite action to save their friend’s life.

A neighbour, Ayemi Ibibi, who was part of those that brought Yemi to the hospital said: “At about 4:00 a.m., my younger sister woke me up and asked me to come out saying she does not understand what was happening to Yemi because we are neighbours.

“So, when I came out, I saw other neighbours trying to force the inhaler into his mouth. Mere seeing him, I knew that it was an attack. His phone was already open. So, I scrolled his mother’s number, called her immediately and informed her what was happening to Yemi.

“She told me to bring him to UPTH. At that point, while I was talking to his mother, he slumped.
so, when we got to UPTH, they brought a wheelchair and rolled him inside. “We were shouting for an emergency, emergency, help our friend is dying. There was a woman that came and checked his eyes, touched his head and said that there was no pulse – that his eyes were dilated and we did not even understand what she was saying. So, we asked her what she meant and she said he was gone and they cannot do anything. So, they left him on the wheelchair.”

Meanwhile, the Management of UPTH, in a statement signed by the Acting Public Relations Officer for Chief Medical Director, Elabha Meni, said preliminary investigation showed that the patient was brought in dead.

“Management had begun actions to ascertain the true position of things. Preliminary report was that the patient was Brought in Dead (BID). However, management will investigate and attend to the matter appropriately.“

The management of UPTH sympathises with the friends and family of Folorunsho Michael also known as Yemitheplug, who passed away in the early hours of today Tuesday, November 29, 2022.

“We sincerely empathise with the mother who is also one of us, a Deputy Director in our Nursing Department,” Meni said. (The Guardian)

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