Anger as Imo wrestling champion slumped, died
It has been a gloomy atmosphere in Imo State Sports community with backed by protest over the avoidable death of a wrestling champion, Mr. Bartholomew Nwachukwu, aged 36.
When NewsTrack visited Dan Anyiam stadium, Wednesday, all the athletes present were adorned in black with most of them discussing in groups, wearing long faces. It was confirmed that Mr. Nwachukwu had slumped and died without any reasonable effort to revive him from the medical team for lack of minimal medical equipment in the clinic.
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Speaking, an elitist sports athlete who does Judo, Mr. Ajaero Nelson simply said: “It is a very painful loss for us in Imo sports commission. Bartholomew was a role model in wrestling. He was a source of inspiration to most of us because of his training pattern. Since his death we have all lost appetite to train because it could have been anyone.
” I had a personal relationship with him. Since wrestling and judo are related in technique, some times we trained together. He was so strong that he won everything in sight recently during out pre – festival competition. Today, he is no more but very painful because he could have been saved”
Lamenting the unfortunate passing on of Nwachukwu, Comrade Ofoma Desmond, Taekwando athlete, he said that Nwachukwu’s life could have been saved had there been adequate health facilities in the sports complex.
Making a startling revelation, he said that Nwachukwu had complained of sickness but could not raise money anywhere to cater take of himself. In his condition, he was preparing for the forthcoming National Sports Festival before he died while training.
His words: “It’s about time things are turned around here. One of our best athlete died just for paltry N5000. I knew he was asking for arm, a paltry N5000 to go to the hospital. He came to some of us. Promises were made to scratch to help our but before we could mobilise to help out, he slumped and died on the track while working-out.
” We wish to call on the Commission to rise to the occasion and help us get the health centre equipped. We believe that if only Nwachukwu had been attended to in time, may be his life would have been saved.”
NewTrack in its investigation discovered that not athlete undergoes any medicals before jumping into sporting activities. No pulse checking and no blood pressure checks. Every Imo athlete is an endangered specie as most of them know nothing about the state of their health.
Speaking to the Principal Nursing Officer, she could not be of help she was extremely evasive due to usual bureaucracy.
Requesting to know their effort towards saving the life of Nwachukwu, she simply said: “We tried our best. We had to put him in an ambulance to the hospital but he was already dead on arrival.”
On the state on the health facilities and procedures on managing the health and fitness of the State athletes, she said it was not her jurisdiction to speak on those matters.
Efforts to get in touch with the Public Relations Officer of the Sports Commission, Mrs Ezeji was impossible as some of the staff refused offering her phone number but when our NewsTrack reporter finally got her on phone, she simply denied speaking to our reporter, saying she had no powers to speak on the matter.
Meanwhile, our reporter met with the Chairman of Imo State Sports Commission, Chief Fan Ndubuoke, he refused making a statement, saying that he was no more heading the Commission.
The athletes later went on a peaceful protest singing mourning songs in honour of their departed colleague. They requested a better welfare and good medicare.
