Hit-and-run driver crushed my legs while I tried to save accident victim – Amputee

Former driver and father of four, Bashiru Akinola, narrates to AJIBADE OMAPE, how his legs were crushed by a hit-and-run truck after his vehicle hit a boy crossing the road with his family in Ogun State

Can you take us through your early life and background?

My name is Bashiru Akinola. I’m an indigene of Oyo State but live in the Olowotedo area of Mowe, Ogun State. On the 22nd of May this year, I will be 44 years old. I have a wife and four kids. I came to Lagos State in 1995, where I learnt how to deal in motor parts in Owode Onirin. However, after learning the trade, there was no money to set up myself in the business. So, I branched out and became a driver.

I started as a private driver for various people, and I was also a labourer and a bricklayer for a while. After some time, those businesses did not pay me well, but I had the opportunity to gather enough money to buy myself a vehicle I used to work for myself. I was able to get married after working with my car for a while. My wife is a fashion designer.

What circumstance led to the accident that made you lose your legs?

In August last year, on the 20th precisely, at about 7:20pm, I had closed for the day and was driving along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. I had made a U-turn in front of Car Park C, around the Redeemed Christian Church of God, making my way back to Olowotedo. I had driven past Mowe already and while approaching Lotto, I can’t remember what happened, but I was involved in an accident.

When I woke up the next day, on the 21st, I surprisingly met myself at a hospital where I was taken to by policemen. It was then I realised that my legs were bandaged and covered in blood. According to what okada riders at the accident scene told me, a woman and her children crossed the road while I was driving. I tried to avoid hitting them by swerving in a different direction, but unfortunately, one of the children panicked, jumped into the path of my car, and was hit, dying instantly.

At the same time, a truck was coming behind; a Toyota Corolla vehicle was in between my vehicle and the truck. According to bystanders, I came down from my vehicle in shock to check on the boy whom I hit, that was when the car behind hit me to the ground, and the truck could not control its speed and ran over my legs. It was after the accident that policemen came to the scene and rushed me to a hospital in Lotto. I heard of everything on the morning of the 21st when I woke up at the hospital.

At what moment did you realise that you might lose your legs, and how did you feel at that time?

I realised when I woke up the next morning at the hospital that my family members were advised to allow the hospital to cut off both my legs. My family paid almost N300,000 in hospital bills and asked to take me to University College Hospital in Ibadan.

At first, I was taken home and a woman who was alleged to be a specialist in putting together broken bones was called to come to fix my legs; she was given N50,000 to buy the things she needed to fix my bones and she also arrived with a doctor with the hope of coupling back my bones but unfortunately, she told my senior sister there was nothing she could do after seeing the condition of my bones.

My legs were wrapped in bandages again and I was then transported to UCH that evening around 5pm. I got to UCH at night and was admitted to the emergency centre. The next morning, the doctors told my family that both legs were condemned and nothing could be done. All the blood and drugs that were given to me at the hospital kept rushing out through my legs.

Blood could not stay in my body again and it was at that time both legs were cut off. I pleaded with the doctors to leave at least one of my legs, but they declined saying both legs were condemned and advised that if I did not cut both legs off, it could affect me and I might not last long.

How did you feel when your legs were amputated?

I instantly became sad when I woke up and saw the condition of my legs (amputated). I started to think of how I would take care of my children and wife without my legs; I also thought of how I would take care of my mother.

What did the family of the boy who you hit say when their child died?

The family said the boy who died was not well at the time and was not supposed to go out with his sister because they were coming from a birthday party when the accident happened, and his dying on the spot was possibly due to his current health situation at the time.

According to what the policemen told my family when the boy’s family saw the terrible condition of my legs, they didn’t know what to do. They have since buried his corpse. The boy’s family did not say anything after seeing how shattered my legs were. In fact, they did not believe I could survive the incident.

Did you get a hold of both the trailer driver and the Toyota Corolla driver who both hit you?

I did not get a hold of them; I did not also hear from them. It was more like a hit-and-run situation; they did not come back to the scene of the accident. The policemen did not get any of them.

How do you see life since the accident happened?

Ever since the incident happened, I have come to realise that there is nothing in this life, other than to be very prayerful and always put trust in God because there is no one immune to challenges and bad circumstances. Anyone can fall victim to anything at any given time as long as one is alive.

So, I believe we all should be truthful and prayerful. I am not the kind of person who likes to stress myself. Anytime I go out to work, I always get content with what I make. I close work at any time, but on that day, I did not close early which was unusual. The latest I have been outside working is 4pm because my area is usually deserted at night. So, often, I go to my wife’s place or my friend’s place in Mowe, Ibafo.

Do you think you will go back to driving and delivering goods if you get perfect with your artificial leg?

I don’t think I would return to driving because it will not be easy. What I have also heard from people is that it will not be easy for me to drive with my legs because of the way my amputation was done; the legs were amputated above my knees because all the bones from my knees downwards were shattered, and it would be hard to drive even with artificial legs.

I have been told that there are vehicles that can be worked where all the controls, from the brake, clutch, accelerator, and gear would be controlled by the hand instead of the leg, but I do not have the intention to go back to driving as a job anymore.

While driving, what were the biggest challenges you faced on the roads in Ogun State, and do you think this accident could have been avoided?

I barely hit anyone while I was driving; most of the time, it was people who hit my car. My vehicle got hit by a car about three months before the recent incident, and it damaged my car a lot. I had to take it to a panel beater to fix it because it was bad. I have never had an accident ever since I have been driving, but other drivers have hit my car several times.

Do you feel commercial drivers like yourself should receive enough training on road safety and emergency response?

Yes, I feel they need to be very well trained so that situations like this can be avoided.

How have you been coping financially, especially now that your source of livelihood has been affected?

It has not been easy taking care of the family. My firstborn daughter was supposed to have gained admission into a university last year, but it was not possible because of unexpected expenses that came up due to the accident I had. However, after purchasing the artificial legs with the money I got from TikTok, I have been able to enrol her at the Ibadan Polytechnic this year with some part of the money left in my account.

My second-born also wants to sit the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board exam this year. Although I have paid for both exams, it’s eaten into the bulk of what I have left from the TikTok money, and there’s no avenue to seek financial support again except we manage what my wife gains as profit from her business.

I only wish to get a helper and start a business. If I get a helper, I want to start selling cement, but there is no capital. I have made enquiries about the cement business, and I was told that a minimum of 400 bags is what I can get to be a distributor; I asked if I could get 200 bags, but I was told the quantity was too small.