A doctor in Abuja has shared a disturbing and heartbreaking experience that has left many in the medical community shaken.
Dr. Spunky (@IberedemK), a practicing physician, took to social media to recount how a critically ill patient, barely clinging to life just a day earlier, returned to the hospital not with gratitude, but with chaos.
“This is the most traumatizing moment I’ve had in my medical career,” Dr. Spunky began. “A man who was wheeled into our facility with a PCV of 8% due to severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding, white as a sheet and too weak to lift a finger, came back today… not for a check-up, but with over 20 thugs to stage an escape.”
According to the doctor, the patient had initially paid a N50,000 deposit for emergency care.
After receiving four units of fresh blood and urgent medical intervention that essentially saved his life, the hospital asked for the outstanding balance of just over N100,000.
“Rather than settle his bill, he returned with a busload of agberos,” the doctor explained. “They stormed the hospital, harassed staff, and even beat up the gateman who tried to lock the gate.”
To the doctor’s utter shock, the man he had fought to save pointed at him in the middle of the chaos and said, “Na you cause this thing abi? You dey craze!”
“I nearly collapsed,” said Dr. Spunky. “This was someone who couldn’t sit up 24 hours ago. We literally brought him back from the brink of death. And now he has the audacity and energy to insult me and vanish with his gang?”
The doctor expressed deep frustration at the double standard hospitals face in Nigeria.
“If we had refused to treat him because he couldn’t pay a deposit, it would’ve gone viral. The public would’ve dragged us without knowing the full story,” he lamented. “But who’s going to talk about this? That we risked everything to save a life—and this is what we got in return?”
The incident reportedly occurred at a hospital not far from Lakowe, the same area where a recent controversial case involving a pregnant woman stirred public outcry.
“What hurts the most is that I was too overwhelmed to record it all. I wish people could see what we go through,” the doctor stressed. “This is why many hospitals insist on full or substantial payment before treatment. Not because they lack compassion—but because they’ve been burnt too many times.”
The story has sparked debate online, with many sympathizing with frontline health workers who face not just life-and-death situations, but also threats to their own safety.
