#GhanaWebRoadSafety: Excavator operator who lost both legs in car crash shares experience

Correspondence from Eastern Region:

An excavator operator's life changed forever nearly six years ago following a dastardly accident, which led to the amputation of his two legs. While most would be resentful, he is choosing to live with a positive purpose.

Osei Ebenezer Nartey, 32 currently single with no child was travelling with two others including the driver that fateful day on 31st May, 2016 from Accra to Anyinam in the Eastern Region when the vehicle on which they were travelling collided head-on with another.

Prior to this accident, the former galamsey operator was still mourning the loss of three family members who died in a gory accident that occurred on the Odumase-Asesewa road in 2015.

Moments before their accident, Ebenezer recalled that the driver of their Chevrolet Cruze on which they were traveling engaged in a wrongful overtaking at Achimota and sensing that police personnel stationed at the scene may chase after them, made a u-turn to the police where they threatened to detain the driver but subsequently released them after he [driver] pleaded with them.

Recalling circumstances that led to the accident at Suhum, the now unemployed man said upon reaching a spot close to where the overhead was being constructed at 10pm, he spotted an oncoming vehicle in their lane overtaking another vehicle.

Trapped by the situation, the result was a head-on collision between the two vehicles.

“When we reached Suhum where they were doing the overhead, I spotted a vehicle coming so I alerted the driver that there’s a vehicle approaching in our lane so we’re dead so immediately after that we don’t know where we are again,” recounted Ebenezer.

While the other two occupants in the Chevrolet Cruze escaped unhurt, Ebenezer sustained severe injuries and lost consciousness in the process.

“I suffered multiple injuries, I had my two legs all amputated,” he said.



He regained consciousness at the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Koforidua with both legs amputated. He later learnt, he was thrown out of the vehicle in the crash and the vehicle ran over his two legs, fracturing them in the process.

The only alternative left for doctors was to amputate both legs.
He added that though the driver of the vehicle that crashed into their vehicle arranged for an unspecified amount of insurance benefits for him, he has not seen or heard from him since.

Osei Ebenezer Nartey’s life has never been the same since the accident. He now depends on the benevolence of family members to survive since he’s unemployed.

“It [accident] has affected me a lot because initially when I was working I could take care of myself and probably, my brothers and sisters but now, I have become a burden on them,” he said.
The difficulties, he lamented have pushed him to the point of contemplating suicide.



Ebenezer who worked with a private galamsey operator said though his former employer supported him at the hospital, there was very little he could do since he did not sustain the injury in the line of duty.

Today, he moves about with the aid of a wheelchair, adding that he must hire a taxi anytime he must go to town.


About GhanaWeb Road Safety Campaign

The GhanaWeb Road Safety Campaign forms a part of the numerous projects GhanaWeb has rolled out as part of its 22nd-anniversary celebrations.

The year-long campaign dubbed #GhanaWebRoadSafety took off on Monday, March 1, 2021, and will focus on three key areas: indiscipline on
roads; bad roads, and potholes that contribute to road accidents the and absence of streetlights.

The campaign is being executed in partnership with major stakeholders including the Ghana Road Safety Commission, the Motor Transport and
Traffic Directorate of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Highway Authority, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, and the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing
Authority.



The campaign is also spearheaded by musician and politician Bice Osei Kufour (Obour) as the Ambassador.

Meanwhile, GhanaWeb among other things will, throughout the year, embark on media tours, organise special awards and recognition, embark on
corporate social responsibility activities as part of its 22nd-anniversary celebration which was officially launched in Accra on February 15, 2021.