Patient whose skull was opened at KNH speaks out

juma chrispinus

March 7, 2018 9:26 AM

The two are currently at KNH recovering.

A patient whose skull was mistakenly opened by five doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital in a rare surgery mix up has finally spoken out on his ordeal that led to him being hospitalised.

One of the patients, whose name remains unknown, told the that he was knocked by a motorcycle when he was crossing one of the roads in Nairobi's Kahawa West and later would be unconscious, only to be told that his skull was opened.

The two are however said to be recovering, the paper reported Wednesday, March 7, 2018.

“I’m feeling much better now as compared to the time when I was first brought into the facility,” said the patient who had blood clots in the brain.

Knocked by motorcycle

The paper noted that the family members who visited him at the clinic took him to another hospital in Kasarani, St Francis Hospital, from where he was taken to KNH, where doctors recommended that he undergoes surgery.

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The family members were shocked to realise that their relative had missed the surgery despite the anticipation, and would later learn that the exercise had been performed on a wrong patient, whom they had not met or seen at the hospital.

Medication prescribed

“I didn’t even see the other patient and cannot recognise him since we’ve not officially met since the mishap occurred,” said the patient.

He explained that doctors later opted to prescribe medication for him instead of operating on him, a move that caused panic amongst his family members.

The patient whose head was mistakenly opened up also recounted that he was on recovery.

“I’m feeling better, although there is slight pain from the post-operative wounds,” he told the Nation in an interview.

We could not carry out a comprehensive interview with the patient as the ward nurses told us to leave once they realised we were reporters interviewing him.

juma chrispinus