Kwaku Bonsam shares the story of how he got burnt and nearly buried alive

Ghanaian traditional priest Nana Kwaku Bonsam has recalled how he suffered severe burns as a young child after a fire broke out in his family home.

Speaking in an interview on Asemoa FM, Nana Kwaku Bonsam recounted that the incident happened after his father returned home with a small container of what he believed was diesel.

According to him, the fuel had been purchased from a vendor who had mistakenly mixed diesel with petrol. At the time, he explained, the family used the fuel to light their lantern.

The fuel was subsequently kept in the storeroom of their house. Nana Kwaku Bonsam admitted that he was a stubborn child while growing up and said the incident happened when his younger brother went to light the lantern using the fuel in the storeroom.

He said he went after his younger brother to beat him and took the lantern from him. However, while taking the lantern to their parents, some of the fuel spilled onto the floor and caught fire.

The fire quickly spread to his jeans, which he said were difficult to tear off. As the fire intensified, his father tried to save him by throwing him through a window to get him outside the house.

However, his father did not realise that the window was locked. As a result, instead of falling outside the house, Nana Kwaku Bonsam hit the locked window and fell back into the fire.

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“When he opened the door and threw me out, he thought I had made it outside. But the window was locked, so I hit the window and fell into the fire, which burnt me. When my father came out, he thought he had successfully thrown me outside, but I had fallen into the fire, and it caught me badly and burnt me,” he shared.

According to Nana Kwaku Bonsam, he remained in the fire for more than four hours and suffered severe burns across his body. He said some parts of his body were so badly burnt that only the bones were visible, adding that he still has a hole in his head as a result of the incident.

He further disclosed that after surviving the fire, he spent two years and eight months in hospital receiving treatment.

Nana Kwaku Bonsam also revealed that his family initially believed he had died because the fire had badly burnt his eyes, leaving them closed.

He said preparations were therefore made to bury him, but while people were carrying his coffin, it slipped from one person’s hand and fell to the ground.

According to him, the impact caused him to regain consciousness, after which he woke up inside the coffin and sat up.

He said the incident was a turning point in his life and that, if the coffin had not fallen, he could have been buried about 40 years ago.

@asempa_fm Nana Kwaku Bonsam shares the story of how he got burned. #AsempaFM #bibiaabibiaa ♬ original sound - ASEMPA FM