Apparently luck has smiled down on one Mr. Olorunwa Jero, a vulcaniser and a father of six who is a survivor of the Ode-Irele methanol poisoning saga that left several dead in Ogun State.
Mr. Jero recounted his ordeal thanking God and the staff of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan for saving his life and restoring his sight. The survivor reportedly ingested the methanol from a local gin called ogogoro.
“By the time I was brought here, I had gone blind. I could not identify my wife, I could not identify anything. I did not even know when I arrived here. But I thank God and the management and staff of University College Hospital, UCH, for bailing me out. I can see all of you here clearly. I can even identify the clothes each one of you is putting on,” the ecstatic Mr. Jero said.
Management of the UCH speaking through Professor Temitope Alonge, the Chief Media Director revealed that there were other five patients who were also victims of the Ode-Irele methanol poisoning who they said had very high hopes of survival were responding very well to treatment and that they had regained their sights.
Speaking with newsmen in Ibadan today Friday, May 1, 2015, Professor Alonge said; “On April 18, the Consultant Pathologist with the Ondo State Ministry of Health, Dr. Osasan, called to seek the assistance of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, in the management of five patients who survived the Ode-Irele neuro-toxicity saga who were completely blind. We agreed to take over the management of the patients but requested for the samples of the local gin that were incriminated along the fresh blood and urine samples of the patients.”
“I contacted the consultant neurologist on call, Dr. Steeve Oluwole for a comprehensive evaluation of the patients because of the clinical presentation of the patients that had died and the ones that survived since they all pointed to neurotoxicity.
“In addition, the clinical pharmacologists led by Professor Catherine Falade, the laboratory scientists and specialists advisers to the hospital, Professor Segun Ademowo, were all contacted for the biochemical analyses of the blood of these patients as well as the urine in addition to the
three samples of local gin that was reportedly consumed by the patients”.
Alonge said that series of tests were conducted on the victims and the samples of the three drinks they had consumed. He also said that it took the hospital 2 weeks before they detected the likely cause of the neurotoxicity exemplified by sudden blindness and correlated their findings with the toxicants in the victims blood, urine and the local gin samples.
On a final note, he advised the public to be careful of what they consumed in order to stay healthy.
