Amina Ibrahim’s mother, Maryam, rushed to her daughter’s bedside, knelt down and began to pray loudly in Hausa, hot tears running down her face soaking her black hijab. Her wailing rang out loud and clear filling the air within Mohammed Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital in Kano State.
“I hoped that my baby will survive. She cannot die; she will be healed. You cannot die; we will all go home together,” she cried. But her prayer was futile. Her daughter didn’t rise up to pacify her. Fourteen-year-old Amina was dead.
“Your death could have been avoided. What did I do wrong, why did my daughter have to die. My Amina, I refuse to believe you are gone,” she cried. As she cried, her husband, Bala Ibrahim, looked on. His vacant eyes staring into space. Bala held his daughter’s hand. He could not touch her face or hug her in death. Stevens-Johnson syndrome, the medical condition that Amina succumbed to, had left her face and body terribly disfigured.
As tears rolled down Maryam’s eyes and her hijab got even more wet, the doctors and other hospital workers who struggled to save the fourteen-year-old’s life moved in to console her.
Shortly after she started wailing, the Accident and Emergency ward of the hospital began to fill up with people who heard her and came to console her. Within a short while, the entire ward was a cacophony of noise and screams.
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a life-threatening skin condition that disfigures the body before finishing off its victim.
Mayoclinic.org, the website of foremost US medical group, Mayo Clinic, describes Stevens-Johnson syndrome as a “rare, serious disorder of skin and mucous membranes” that is usually “a reaction to a medication or an infection.”
It says, “Often, Stevens-Johnson syndrome begins with flu-like symptoms, followed by a painful red or purplish rash that spreads and blisters. Then the top layer of the affected skin dies and sheds.”
Maryam told our correspondent that her daughter’s health problems started when she started reacting to the drugs she bought from a local drug dispenser in their neighbourhood. These drug dispensers are called ‘chemists’ across Nigeria.
SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that Amina, who resided with her parents in Dala Local Government Area of Kano State, developed body pains after taking the drugs.
Maryam said, “I wish I had told Amina not to go to that particular chemist. But how could I have known that she embarked on a trip to her death? My children and I usually patronise the chemist. We do not have money. I am a housewife while my husband is an electrician. We feed on the little money my husband makes on a daily basis. I have five children; we cannot afford to be visiting a hospital every time we are ill. My daughter complained of cold and cough which made her visit the chemist to get some medications.
“On May 26, Amina and her younger brother went to the chemist near where we live in Dala council area. She told the chemist what was wrong with her. I later learned that it was the chemist’s son who was on duty that day. The boy is about 19 years old.”
The drugs Amina bought at the chemist
Mrs. Ibrahim, who spoke through a female interpreter, added that the boy prescribed an antibiotic, Septrin, to Amina, claiming that it would relieve her of her discomfort.
According to her, later in the evening of that day, Amina took the drug (septrin) and within an hour, her lips and tongue got swollen and her eyes became red.
“The pain was unbearable for her. We did not know what to do. I had to check the expiry date on the drug sachet to be sure it had not expired. But I could not find any date, ’’ she stated wiping tears with her palms.
She further said Amina returned to the chemist the next day to complain of her reaction to the drug.
‘‘I followed her to the chemist and we met him in his shop. He said Amina was developing symptoms of chicken pox and that she would need to be placed on injection and other drugs to fight the ailment. We heeded his advice, believing he was an expert in health matters,” her mother said.
She told our correspondent that the chemist gave her daughter a combination of drugs which included paracetamol, ciproxin, puriton, ciprotob and blood tonic to treat the chicken pox which he claimed Amina had.
“Immediately she completed her injection doses, things got out of hand. My beautiful daughter changed into someone I could not recognise. Her face turned black as if she got burnt. Her health also deteriorated daily,” she said.
Throughout his narration, Amina’s father, was lost in thought. Once in a while, a solitary teardrop would travel from one of his eyes, down his face and on to his cheeks. He did not wipe these tears. He just stared into space.
“I do not know what to say, I do not even know what to think. I cannot believe my baby is gone. What pains me most is that her death could have been avoided. Every day, throughout the period Amina was being treated, we hoped she would be fine and we would all go home together someday. I just did not know if my family would be able to recover from this,” he said softly.
When asked if they had reported the chemist to the police, he said, “We can’t find him again.”
Research done by clinical pharmacists has shown that self-prescription is one of the commonest forms of drug abuse in the country.
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