Some families of victims and survivors of both the June 3 Accra flooding disaster and the Atomic gas explosion this year joined the annual May 9 remembrance walk in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital.
Participants remembered and prayed for all those who lost their lives needlessly through various national tragedies such as the May 9 2001 Accra stadium stampede which claimed 126 lives as well as all the several lives that have been lost through preventable flooding and gas explosions in the country.
Championing the memory of these perished souls for the last 17 years, is a philanthropic organization led by former Asante Kotoko chairman and philanthropist Mr. Herbert Mensah who has used several charity activities including donations to families of victims, prayers and donations at the central Mosque in Kumasi for the departed souls, football gala games with cash prizes between various local community teams as well as remembrance street walks to remind Ghanaians of the tragic day which should never be allowed to repeat itself.
Some victims of the 2015 Accra floods including Alex Korankye, whose wife died at the Kwame Nkrumah with her little son surviving on top of her, joined the May 9 march in Kumasi alongside
Rockson Ahmed Cort, who suffered severe burns during the Atomic gas explosion in 2017.
The two have been beneficiaries of donations from the May 9 Foundation and Mr. Herbert Mensah since their tragedies occurred.
“Before I came out of hospital, my wife left with the little child, leaving the older one behind. But all the same, I thank God to be alive today after all the injuries I got from the gas explosion at Atomic junction”, Rockson Ahmed Cort remarked. “I was a driver, and became a victim of the gas explosion. Because of my condition, I met Mr. Herbert Mensah who came to help us at the 37 Military Hospital, So today since I am well, I am here to join him and others to remember all those who died during the Accra stadium disaster”.
Ahmed Rockson Cort added, “There are many victims of the Atomic gas explosion still at the hospital today. They need help. Government should help. We pay even today when we go back to dress my injuries. It is not true that government has given us money. The only person who helped us is Mr. Herbert Mensah, that’s why I am here today.”
Alex Korankye on his part said ”Mr. Herbert Mensah has been helping me even though he has nothing to do with the Accra floods which took the life of my wife. He has been helping me and the little child left behind through his foundation. My son is now 7 years old. That is why I am here to participate in the May 9 walk. I came from Accra to join”.
This year, the two-day May 9 remembrance events started with prayers at the Kumasi central Mosque for the departed souls and a donation of 100 bags of cement (in cash) in response to a request from the Imams for renovation of a Mosque as well as cash, food items and toiletries to the chiefs and clerics.
With focus on helping children in dire need of medical surgeries at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit, Mr. Herbert Mensah and other members of the May 9 Foundation proceeded to visit the sick children at the pediatric intensive care unit at KATH.
According to Dr. John A. Appiah, head of the pediatric intensive care unit of the KATH, children who suffer this condition can only eat or drink through a plastic tube inserted into their stomachs until a medical surgery is carried out to repair the damage in the throat.
The President of the May 9 Foundation, Mr. Herbert Mensah whose attention was brought to the dire situation at the unit by some medical personnel at the KATH expressed sincere worry about the alarming rate at which the condition is affecting many children especially when it is through the carelessness of the parents and not any fault of the affected children.
Mr. Mensah who is also President of Ghana Rugby Football Union
‘I acknowledge and thank the sponsors of the project including the media for massively highlighting the
problems of the sick children, Sunda international for providing toiletries and detergents for the sick children in the hospital, Conservaria Ghana Ltd. for providing food stuffs, Interplast, Kwabena Kese of Kesben, Ransford Antwi of SunCity and all the sponsors for both cash and kind donations to the ‘Save a sick child Project’ of the May 9 foundation”.
In a speech to climax the yearly memorial events after the long awareness walk in Kumasi, Mr. Herbert Mensah thanked the people for coming out massively in their numbers to participate in memory of all those perished souls. The President also called on other Ghanaians with the means especially the middle class to support the initiative to save children from dying needlessly.
The ‘Save a sick child project’ is an ongoing, all year-round sustainable project that seeks to restore the health of sick children whose parents are unable to personally afford the high cost of treatment specifically targeting victims of accidental ingestion of caustic soda at the pediatric intensive care unit of the Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
-Modernghana.com