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."
It is advised that if you can stand
the tension in the Super Eagles game please don’t watch.
May his soul RIP.
May his soul RIP.
