In a shattering and deeply personal account, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has shared the details of the tragic loss of her young son, revealing that his death was the result of what she describes as criminal medical negligence at Euracare Hospital in Lagos.
Adichie, the multi-award-winning novelist, explained that her son, Nkanu, fell ill during a family Christmas in Lagos. What began as a cold developed into a serious infection, leading to his admission at Atlantis Hospital. He was scheduled to be airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on January 7th, accompanied by a medical team, for specialized care. In preparation, doctors ordered a lumbar puncture, an MRI, and the insertion of a central line—procedures for which they were referred to Euracare Hospital.
On the morning of January 6th, the family carried Nkanu to Euracare. He was to be sedated for the procedures. Waiting outside the theater, Adichie's fears were realized when she saw medical staff, including a doctor, rushing in.
She was soon informed that the anesthesiologist had administered an overdose of the sedative propofol. Though Nkanu was resuscitated, he was placed on a ventilator, suffered seizures and cardiac arrest, and passed away hours later.
The author’s grief is compounded by the subsequent discovery that her son was not monitored after the sedation. The anesthesiologist allegedly carried the unconscious boy on his shoulder into the theater, and later switched off his oxygen to carry him again to the ICU.
“The anesthesiologist was criminally negligent. He was fatally casual and careless with the precious life of a child. No proper protocol was followed,” Adichie wrote.
She further revealed that the same anesthesiologist had been involved in two previous cases of overdosing children at the hospital.
“We brought in a child who was unwell but stable and scheduled to travel the next day. We came to conduct basic procedures. And suddenly, our beautiful little boy was gone forever,” she shared. “It is like living your worst nightmare. I will never survive the loss of my child.”
Her statement ends with a plea for accountability: “This must never happen to another child.”
To Chimamanda, a voice for so many, now bearing a sorrow no parent should ever know: your courage in sharing this profound pain amidst such a private tragedy leaves us heartbroken alongside you. The world knows your strength through your words, but this loss reveals a different, more intimate kind of fortitude. May the memory of your precious son, Nkanu, be a gentle, enduring light. You are held in the thoughts of millions who have been touched by your grace. May you find, in time, pockets of peace.
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