It all happened suddenly changing a one happy and graceful day to a sad and dreadful one. It was a call, an unexpected call, just one call was all that was needed to change a happy atmosphere to a sad one, that call brought forth the bad news and everything changed drastically for my whole family.
A month ago before the call, mother had travelled to the village for a visit and to check on her mother which is also my grandmother and her relatives who reside in the village. We spoke all through her stay in the village, I and my sisters made sure to keep in touch with my mother to ensure she was fine and comfortable during her holiday trip to the village.
It's one month already and my mother was preparing to return back to Lagos, she prepared herself for her trip back, getting most of the items on the long list we had given her before the trip. We sent money for her transportation fare back home and kept in touch until she boarded the bus.
We were all happy that mother was on transit back home and we quickly arranged the house, made sure everywhere was clean and I prepared her a delicious meal to welcome her back home and to make her feel relaxed because the journey was a long one, almost a days journey.
We kept in touch to know where they got to from one point and state to the other until their bus finally arrived in Berger Lagos State. We were all happy and thanked God for her safe trip through the dangerous road. Unknown to us, the worse was about to happen.
Apparently the bus stopped at the park for passengers alighting at that bus stop to come out which included my mum. The first and second person came down and my mum was the last to come out of the bus, it was already late hours of the night and the place was dark, being an old woman, she didn't notice that the bus wasn't properly parked and there was an open gutter just by the exit of the bus, so the moment she stepped her feet out of the bus, she lost her balance and found herself in the gutters.
The worst part of it was the rod in the gutter that poked through her legs, when she fell the passengers ran out of the bus including the driver to help her out, without knowing she had a rod poked into her leg, my mother cried in pain and wailed loudly as they tried to drag her out of the gutter, that was when the call came through and we were asked to rush down to the park to take my mother to the hospital.
I can never forget the sight of the bleeding, of the pains she endured, the fears in her eyes, it was a dreadful day for the family. Tears flowed down my cheek as I saw my mother in such agonizing situation. We rushed her to a nearby hospital for proper treatment and to help stop the bleeding because at time we got to the park she had lost a lot of blood.
We were told that the injury was too deep and that my mother might not walk again. I refused to accept that for my mother, I assured my mother that nothing would happen to her and that her leg would not be amputated. I promised her that I would do everything within my power even if I had to spend my life savings or get a loan, I would do that to ensure her safety and that she would surely walk with her two legs.
My enthusiasm and positivity made my mother feel more relaxed, safe and comfortable, my words assured her that I and my sisters would stand by her and ensure she gets the best treatment. We moved her to a better hospital to continue her treatment, we took turns to stay with her at the hospital until she was discharged and only went for checkup on assigned days.
It took time, days, months and a few years before my mother got her life fully back and was now able to walk freely. It was a lot of work, sleepless nights and effort put together to achieve that.
Mother said to me "your reassuring words and conviction made me fight back because I didn't want to let you down"
Those words made me happy, I didn't know where I got the energy from but seeing my poor mother and only surviving parent in such painful circumstances made me do all it takes to make her feel safe and comfortably snuggled as a bug in a rug.
I'm happy that the injury is completely healed and she no longer feels pain on the leg anymore.
