‘I fell from two-storey building’

•Sylvester needs N2 million for corrective surgery

LOOKING forlorn on the hospital bed is 32-year-old Sylvester Johnson, a student of Lagos State Skill Acquisition Centre, Ikorodu.

   His predicament began on Thursday, October 10, 2013, when the hardworking and enthusiastic young man, eager to put into practice what he had been taught in school, fell from a two-storey building and broke his spinal cord.

   Speaking with The Guardian on his sickbed, he cuts the picture of a person in dire need of assistance, as he opened up on his experience. “In my bid to add practical experience to the skills I have learnt, I went out with a contractor to fix an air conditioner at Ikeja when I had the accident.

   “I was using a ladder to climb the building, carrying one of the air conditioners. It was while trying to position the AC during the installation that I lost balance and fell. I landed on my back and had spinal cord injury that has since taken me to various hospitals,” he said.

   He was initially taken to Gbagada General Hospital before being transferred to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja. “I was discharged on Friday, October 18 and later admitted to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, but when doctors went on strike, I was taken to a private hospital in Surulere, Lagos.”

   His brother, Augustine Johnson, narrated the fruitless search for financial assistance by family members to put Sylvester back on his feet. “Sylvester is a good brother, who struggled to eke out a living repairing and installing air conditioners and refrigerators. It is unfortunate he got injured on duty.

   “We have been told by doctors that Sylvester’s spinal problem could corrected through a surgery to strengthen his bone, but the hospital requested N2 million to carry out the surgery. We don’t have the resources to sponsor his operation; hence the reason we are appealing to Nigerians for assistance,” he said.

   Those willing to assist Sylvester can pay into: Okolo Sylvester Johnson WEMA BANK account number 0224604297. He can be reached on 08023977114 and 08074543571.

 By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola