Have you ever experienced a moment when you were, perhaps, jogging or trekking somewhere and found yourself in a state of restlessness due to a thirst for water but could not get any to quench it?
Well, that was what happened to Solomon Dieudonne Ametepey, a father, who one day found himself in such a fix, but luckily for him, he chanced on a coconut tree along the way.
Without a cutlass available to allow him to split the coconut fruit, Solomon had to improvise, using his bare teeth.
In no time, fueled by his continuous thirst, he quickly peeled off the coconut with his teeth, granting him access to the water in it.
Since then, it has become an easy exercise for him to undertake.
Speaking exclusively with GhanaWeb’s video journalist, Kwame Adzaho-Amenortor, 34-year-old Solomon recalled the moments of how he discovered he could do this, particularly upon seeing a baboon in a forest one day.
“I was called one day and asked if I was Solomon, the one who fights kickboxing and I said yes. The person asked if I could fight mixed martial arts and I said yes. I then had to prepare for a fight and so I decided to run all the way from here (Sukura) to Tema Roundabout every day.
“It was not easy, and even sometimes, I run around Nsawam and where I jogged, there was no water. On this day, I was feeling tasty and very hungry and then I saw a baboon peeling a coconut on the tree with its teeth and I said to myself that I can also try it and see.
“I tried it and I was successful. It was not magic. I just used my teeth to peel a coconut, and that’s how it started. This is what I did to get water to drink on that day… I took 4 coconuts to survive on that day. With God, all things are possible, you can do it,” he said, while demonstrating the same with a coconut in his hand.
Solomon Ametepey, who is also a zoologist, shared some of the other interesting aspects of his life, including the interesting details of how his kickboxing contenders in Bahrain fled when he was supposed to fight them.
Watch the full interview below:
You can also catch up on the second episode of Everyday People below:
AE/OGB