Some of these riders have spent months in the hospital, awaiting their fate
Lying in their beds, with metals in their legs, ‘cemented’ by Plaster of Paris (POP) at the Trauma Ward of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, they await their fate – will they be able to walk normally again, or would they be maimed for life?
These okada riders who were rushed to the emergency unit with severe leg injuries shared their sad stories with the GhanaWeb Road Safety team.
For 32-year-old Anthony Mensah who has spent over a month at the ward, it was a normal day for him, that fateful day on July 2, 2021. Having gone to work at Prampram, he was returning at about 12 noon to his home at Kpone when a motorbike with two men suddenly run into him at a traffic light.
“When I got to Kpone barrier, I use a private motorbike so I gave a signal that I was branching but as I waited for the traffic light, two men on a bike who were riding at top speed came to hit into mine and a metal under their bike hit into my leg and shifted my bone,” Anthony narrated to Wonder Ami Hagan.
Resultantly, he has lost his livelihood and is only dependent on the little money his wife makes from petty trading. This money he said, is used to cater for his hospital needs as well as the needs of his wife and two children at home.
Beo Bedi who is a construction worker also explained the disturbing circumstances that led to his motor accident.
He was a pedestrian who got knocked down by a reckless motor rider on his way back from the market. Per his narration, he was returning after purchasing some items and upon reaching the crossing on the road at Awoshie-Anyaa noticed the traffic was red for vehicles.
He took a step – attempting to cross and that’s where the motor rider who was riding at top speed ram into his leg, breaking it in the process and causing him to lose balance.
“I was from home and then I went to buy some items. In my attempt to cross having realized the cars had stopped because the traffic light was red. I was at the crossing, one leg on the pavement and one on the road and then a motor rider hit me and threw me off my feet,” he narrated. Beo who doesn’t have any means of getting money because he has been bed-ridden has arrears of GHC4,000 cedis to pay before he can be fully discharged after his treatment is complete.
They also noted lessons they have picked up from the incident.
The full details of their accounts are in the video below: