A forty-year-old man, Moshood Ismail,
on Sunday collapsed and died at a viewing centre in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while
watching the match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Elephants of
Cote.
Ismail, a father of two and an
engineer with the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, caused a commotion inside
the viewing centre when he suddenly collapsed in the early minutes of the game.
An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity,
told our correspondent that Ismail became agitated and later collapsed when an
Ivorien defender deflected a goal-bound shot from Victor Moses.
Ismail’s neighbor, Taiwo Adebayo, who
was also at the viewing centre when the incident occurred, said, “He (Ismail)
fell on the ground and immediately started foaming in the mouth before he later
died.”
It was learnt that he was immediately
rushed to Success Medical Clinic where no doctor was available to attend to
him.
Adebayo said that Ismail was,
however, given some first aid treatment before he was taken to another
hospital.
He added that Ismail died on the way
to the hospital he was referred to.
He said, “We were together when the
match started. When Moses fired a shot and it was deflected by an opposing
player, he (Ismail) fell and started foaming in the mouth.
“We immediately rushed him to a
clinic. When we got to Success Medical Clinic, the doctor was not available and
the nurses gave him first aid treatment.
“He was referred to another hospital
(First Alpha). But on our way, the vehicle gear got damaged and we took a
taxi.
“When we got to the hospital, the
doctor confirmed him dead.
But the Medical Director, Success
Medical Clinic, Sulaiman
Kolawole, said that Ismail was
brought into his clinic dead, adding that efforts to revive him proved
unsuccessful.
Kolawole said the death was due to
excessive intake of carbon dioxide which resulted in “anoxia”.
He said, “The man was brought in
dead. It is supposed to be a heart attack, because he looked weak, like someone
who had been sick for a very long time.
“He looked like someone who was
managing his life and was now in the midst of a crowd with shortage of oxygen
in that area. We call it anoxia, which is excessive intake of carbon dioxide
persistently for a long period of time. But it was late before he was brought
here.”
Ismail’s widow, Tawakalitu Temilola,
told our correspondent at their Abeokuta home that her husband’s sudden death
was still like a dream.
Sobbing profusely, Tawakalitu said
that hours before the match started, her husband in company with some of his
friends left the house. There was no hint that he would die.
She said Ismail, who survived an
accident about two months ago, left behind octogenarian parents.
She said, “He was involved in an
accident about two months ago. The accident was fatal but he survived. So, this
incident is like a dream but we give thanks to Almighty Allah.”
Tags
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