A routine dialysis session has ended in tragedy, with the family of Sumaila Amadu demanding answers over the circumstances surrounding his death at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
Sumaila, a chronic kidney disease patient who depended on dialysis twice every week, went to the hospital on Tuesday, August 25, for his scheduled evening session.
But what was expected to be another routine treatment reportedly turned into a desperate fight for his life.
According to his family, a power outage occurred while Sumaila was still undergoing dialysis, and he began experiencing difficulty breathing.
The family says they were subsequently informed that the hospital’s standby power plant was not functioning, while oxygen was reportedly unavailable at the renal clinic at the time.
Sumaila eventually died.
Now, his grieving family is asking a painful question: could his life have been saved if the hospital’s emergency systems had worked as expected?
They are demanding a thorough, transparent and independent investigation into the incident including the availability of oxygen, the response to Sumaila’s deteriorating condition, the cause of the power interruption, and whether all appropriate medical interventions were provided.
For the family, this is not simply about understanding how Sumaila died. It is about accountability and ensuring that no other patient undergoing critical treatment is left without the basic emergency support needed to stay alive.
