In Memory of Ebenezer Akwasi Affainie Acheampong The Man that he was

“Give him a bare chair, and Acheampong would contemplate, explore the object until he developed it into a major concept”.

That was how a long-term friend aptly described the man who possessed “a beautiful mind“. One could not associate with Ebenezer Akwasi Acheampong, a.k.a Achie, without being impressed by his intelligence. His high level of curiosity was fascinating but sometimes frustrating, especially, when he ventured into unknown areas. Yet his contemplative mind would painfully dissect a novel idea till he made it a familiar subject. Somehow he always managed to make any conversation a learning experience without making his listeners feel ignorant. Amidst the shallowness characteristic of many a person of our times, Achie was one person who could genuinely been described as deep. The depth of his personality was manifested in his affable and accepting nature. As admirable as these traits were, his extreme level of tolerance, even under extreme provocation, was sometimes very frustrating for friends and relatives.

Paradoxically, the qualities that rendered it exasperating to cope with him also endeared him to acquaintances and relations. His constants attempts to be a calming effect on others, his pacifist nature, coupled with his enthusiasm for work, meticulousness and quest for excellence, rendered him a gem to insightful ones. So deep a nature he possessed that the man he really was could not be discovered by the small-minded. He left too soon.

As painful as his departure was, the thought that it could have been prevented actually causes the most excruciating pain. His death underscored, once again, the inherent failures of our health system, the negligence of health workers, which often culminate in unacceptably high numbers of preventable deaths in our hospitals. As was his nature, he researched the side effects of anti-depressants and became quite familiar with the attendant health problems such as heart diseases, impotence, to mention two. He was aware, as were his doctors, that anti-depressants could have just as adverse effects on the liver and the kidneys, yet never even once, during the eighteen years he stayed on medication was he ever advised, by any doctor though he was a patient to one for over a decade, to check his health status against any side effects of those medications. His doctors, both at the private and government hospitals, never prescribed monitoring laboratory tests.

There was an occasion when a female patient--a teacher--who went to the same private hospital as Achie, inquired from a male nurse why patients’ blood pressure was never checked. She reminded the nurse of the need for such monitoring due to the heavy dosage of medication prescribed for patients. Her concerns were echoed by all the patients and relatives present. However, the nurse simply ignored all, his action raising serious concerns among patients and visitors, reminding all of the grave inadequacies of mental health service in the country. Two weeks after the incident, Achie visited the Okomfo Anokye Hospital where he was instructed to stop taking all the drugs prescribed by the private hospital. He was then given just one new drug and sent home; already he was showing the symptom of “polydipsia—increased thirst”. Four days later, March 1, 2010, he got worse and was rushed to the hospital. 

Upon arrival, his blood sugar read 26. His heart was very weak, his kidneys were shutting down and the liver was not functioning. The treatment offered brought the sugar level down to 17 but too much harm had been done to his system. He died the following day. The cause of death was “Cardiopulmonary failure … due to Acute Renal Failure”. Death, everyone knows, is inevitable, yet sometimes it occurs due to negligence, or mistakes—advertently or inadvertently—or just poor judgment. So there are nagging question about Achie’s death: Could it have been prevented? What if he had been made to go for a blood test? Why wasn’t he asked to? What if there had been a routine blood check system?

March 2^nd has come again too soon, the pain still fresh for those who care and remember! May be nothing could have been done for Achie, but there are others who could be helped. If his death, like many others’, was preventable, the least appropriate gesture is to sanitize our health system and make it preserve life rather than waste it. Yes, with targeted intervention, maximum utilization of available resources, proper initiatives, our hospitals could be redeemed from the death traps that they have become, and our health system would be a reliable one. The worst human tragedy is the preventable one. Achie is sorely missed!

Knowing Achie was nature’s gift, and we are thankful for its precious nature!