How I got my battle scars (Part 2)

How I got my battle scars (Part 2)

I want to start by saying a big thank you to everyone that reached out to me after my last post on how I got my battle scars, please read my last post before reading this one. The overwhelming love and encouragement I received from everyone blew my mind. Thank you so much for it all, thank you! Like I promised, here is the part 2 of this story.

Isaiah 41:10 "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."

March 22nd, 2012.

After receiving emergency treatment, I was put in a corner to be picked up by my family. My friends had reached out to my older sisters (they both lived in the UK at the time) about the accident. They were scared and did not know how to inform my parents, at last, they passed the information to my dad. My dad was out of town, so he reached out to his friend who lived around the Hospital to head down there to be with me. I was in and out of consciousness for the whole day, no matter how hard I tried to stay up, I went off easily. I remember my friend Tega coming to see me at the Hospital, the look on his face scared me. I remember my dad’s friend being there, he looked mortified as well but he prayed with me.

At about 12 pm, my dad showed up. I don’t remember the look on his face but I was happy he was coming to take me away. I remember the look on my dad's drivers face, he was afraid and shaking. Transportation was arranged for me to be moved to my dad's friend private hospital in Lagos. Throughout the trip, I was in and out of consciousness. Finally, we arrived at the hospital and I was wheeled in. The number of tests I had to run was insane. I don’t remember a lot but I know it was difficult to get an x-ray because I could not stand.

Injuries and Losses

• My legs, my belly, and my arms sustained third degree burns
• My left arm was pierced with something sharp
• My left eye was filled with blood
• Close to my right eye had a very deep cut that ran above my eyebrow
• My cranium sustained fractures
• My lecturer that was in the accident had sustained spleen rupture that led to his death a few days after the accident
• My departmental president almost lost his ears, I don’t remember the rest of his injuries
• Other people on the bus had numerous injuries, I don’t remember in detail

My mother 💓💓

My dad did not know how to break the news of what had happened to my mum. He called and informed her that one of the children was sick and had been moved to the hospital. My mum being the super mom, left work early to make some comfort food and rushed to the hospital. I had been put in a private ward for privacy and the door was shut. As soon as my mum arrived, she was pulled into a corner to prep her for what she was about to see. The doctors told her, your daughter had been involved in an accident. She started screaming “I want to see my daughter! Is she okay? Where is my child? I want to see my daughter now!” As soon as they opened the door to my room, she saw me and fainted. She could not believe her eyes. I was wrapped in bandages and was so swollen and black. She could not believe it was her sweet child BB.

The following days

I was referred to MeCure in Oshodi for an MRI scan. This revealed that I had sustained some fractures in my cranium. This scared my parents because they did not want me to undergo any brain-related surgeries. Thankfully, the neurologist consultant said I don’t need surgery because I was a young girl. It will heal on its own. Hallelujah!

Because my face had shifted to the left from the impact of the accident, the Physiotherapist came and started minor therapy to help adjust the shape of my face. The optometrist came to check on me because my left eye was filled with blood and my right eye was smaller than usual for some reason I don’t remember. Thankfully, he said I don’t need any eye surgery. The orthopaedic surgeon came to inspect my burns to determine a cause of action. He took a scalpel and started inspecting the degree of the burns. My skin felt tight! I don’t know why but burned skin feels really tight and looks weird. It was yellowish in colour  and I could't feel any sensation. He tugged at the burned skin and cut a piece off! Ouch, that hurt badly. He instructed the nurses to apply some kind of creams on my burns daily to help the burns soften or something. I don't quite remember the purpose of the cream, it may have been an antibiotic ointment or thereabout. A week after the accident, I was beginning to feel better. I had hope that I was going to be out of the hospital in a maximum of 2 weeks, LOL.

The cream application went one for about a month and a half (Mid May), I was stuck in bed for this whole period. I didn’t have a full body shower in this month. My mother took a break from work to stay in the hospital with me. (God bless her so much for me) The orthopaedic and cosmetic surgeon came back to inspect the burns regularly until they decided it was good enough for surgery. This was great news to me, surgery meant I will go home soon. Right? Boy was I wrong. I went into surgery expecting to be better but I got worse. They had taken off all my burnt skin to remove all the dead and unhealthy tissue. Basically, all I had was my flesh wrapped in a bandage. My flesh, not my skin was all I had on my legs.

Myself and Olumide (former president of history dpt) when I was in the hospital

The nurses were instructed to scrub my flesh with normal saline every 2 days, place some fresh gauze and wrap me up in bandages. Those cleaning days were my worst days. The removal of the bandages from my bloody flesh was so painful. I would cry, scream, bury my head in a pillow and be a very mean person to everyone around me. I was especially mean to my mum, she did not deserve my transferred anger. With the cleaning, I lost a lot of blood. I was transfused like 4 times. My dad had to donate blood twice for me. I was depressed and uninterested in everything around me. I just wanted it to be over. I did not have access to a psychologist but my physiotherapist was amazing! She would always check in on my mental state during our physio sessions. I hated that all my friends were back in school moving on with their lives while I was stuck in a God-forsaken bed. I hated the fact that a young man died as a result of the accident, he had a wife and a little baby. I hated the fact that my life was paused and everyone had their life on "play". All I did was watched TV all day in the same bed and look forward to my friends visit. I just wanted it to all end.

My happiest days were when my friends came to visit, I didn’t like the sad look they had on their faces when they looked at me. Howbeit, I was glad they were able to visit.  I made so many promises to God that period. I just wanted the pain to go away. I wanted the sadness to go away. I wanted the boredom to go away. I just wanted to go back to my life. As I waited for my flesh to "build up" or whatever, the orthopaedic surgeon always came to check on the process to determine if I was ready for the skin graft surgery.

The painful process of cleaning took a month and the half, I can not imagine anything more physically painful and strenuous that this. Basically, I had not showered for 3 months, my mum cleaned my body every day. I was confined to a hospital room for 3 months. The sun did not touch my skin neither did I know that the outside of my hospital room looked like.

Thank you so much for reading to the end. I am not a big fan of long write ups which is why I am stopping here today. I really hope this story has inspired someone to keep preserving, something good is on the way. No matter the situation you are in, God is working for you. Keep on believing that God is for you always.

I want to make a special shout out to my dad and mum, Pastor and Pastor (Mrs) Babatunde. You are the best parents anyone can ever asked for. Thank you so much for all that you do. I love you so much and I pray that God continues to bless you and order your steps in Jesus name, Amen. I also want to shout out to my goons from Babcock University History department (2013 set). Sandra, Ope, Edore and Lape, I'm glad I have you ladies in my life. Shout out to everyone that stopped by to say hello while I was in the hospital. A massive shout out to busted, thanks for being a good boyfriend then even when I was not very kind to you. (My dad never liked when this guy visited 🤣🤣🤣). Thank you all so much for being good friends to me when I was down, I appreciate you all.

Next week, there will be the final part to this story. It will be right here on my site, Thursday 7 pm West African Time.

“There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.” - Dalai Lama XIV

Best Regards,

Bibi

Read part 3 here