Time to heal: June 3 Fire victims get GHc 100,000 from Stanbic Bank

For four days he lay in a coma; his face, hair and arms severely burnt by the fire!

Uchena Akposirah, a second-hand clothing seller at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, was one of the victims of the June 3 fire and flood disaster, and is currently on admission at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Describing the excruciating pain he feels in his ears and eyes, he says it is difficult to shut his eyes. His eyelids only cover half of his eyeballs when he sleeps.

According to Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, Director of the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre, although Uchena is almost healed, more skin will be put behind his eyes to release his eyelids. The colour of his skin is also likely to improve over time.

On 3rd June, Accra was hit with very miserable news as rains and fire wreaked havoc resulting in the death of about 152, with several other burnt victims hospitalised. Majority of the June 3 fire victims were sent to the 37 Military, Ridge and the Police Hospitals.

Uchena and 15 others who were severely burnt were admitted at the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. One died; 12 others have been discharged with three still on admission.

In its bid to offset the initial cost of treating survivors at the four hospitals, Government has paid GH¢501,500, GH¢100,000 of which was paid to Korle Bu. This will however not be enough to cater for the long term treatment of all 15 patients.

“That was a timely contribution from the government but the average burnt patient would spend a minimum of 30,000 to get treated,” said Dr Ampomah.

“We are at the acute stage where we are trying to heal the raw wounds; but in the long term they can develop a hardening of their skin called contractures, which makes it very difficult to move certain parts of their body. So they may have to undergo further surgery to deal with those contractures.”

He added that some unfortunate patients are likely to develop keloids and skin cancers within the wounds if not given continuous treatment after they are discharged.

Staff of Stanbic Bank, touched by the plight of the June 3 fire and flood victims, contributed and raised GH¢50,000 to support the Burns Centre of Korle Bu cater for the victims on admission. Management of the Bank topped up the amount with an extra GH¢50,000, bringing the total donation to GH¢100,000, to offset the cost.

“I like the fact that staff of Stanbic actually contributed half of the amount,” Dr. Opoku said. “It’s very heart-warming to know that there are all these individual members of the bank supporting us. The donation will go a long way to alleviate the pain of our patients and also help the centre to provide a better level of service for our clients in future.”

In the first three weeks, the unit spent an average of GH¢ 900 on each patient daily. But for the donation of Stanbic Bank and the other corporate institutions, Uchena, who makes of GH¢40 a day in profit, could not have afforded his treatment.

“A severe burn can be a seriously devastating injury emotionally and physically,” said Alhassan Andani, Chief Executive of Stanbic Bank, when he presented the cheque to the unit. “It affects not only the burnt victim but the entire family and the larger community. Stanbic Bank is with the people of Ghana in their hour of pain and we believe it is time to heal.”