“First ensure the accident scene is safe, the car is not going to explode or fall. Then if the victims are conscious, Please talk to them and ask them specific questions. Do you have neck pain or any back pain? Can you move your arms and your legs, if the

He lamented that his condition worsened as a result of the neglect he suffered at a tertiary public hospital in Abuja where he was unattended to for some weeks. He said his chances of walking again would have been higher if he was managed early by the hospital.

“I was first rushed to the general hospital in my state capital. Two weeks after, I was referred to the tertiary hospital in Abuja, but the consultants kept postponing the date of surgery. I was in serious pains and was hardly given drugs until my family took me to a private hospital where I had surgery. “Though the pains lessened, I didn’t get better and had to be taken to another public hospital in the south-east where I am now accessing treatment,” he narrated.

Spinal cord injury refers to damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal. The damage causes changes in its function, and can either be temporary or permanent. These changes lead to loss of muscle function, sensation and function in parts of the body served by the spinal cord.

Medical experts say half of all spinal cord injuries are caused by road traffic accidents; and that Nigeria has high rate of road traffic accidents.

Founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria: Air Ambulance Services, Dr. Ola Brown, said one in every four Africans involved in road traffic accident was a Nigerian; thus making the country have one of the highest spinal chord injury rates in the world, which she said was a major source of concern.

Medical Director of Zitadel Medicals and Diagnostics Limited, Dr. Olumide Alao, said the injury mostly affected people between the ages of 25 to 45.

He said could be complete.

A Consultant spinal cord incomplete injury or Neurosurgeon with Spine Fixed in Abuja (SFIA) Dr. Douglas Emeka Okor, indentified causes of spinal cord injury to include industrial accidents, falls, assault, sport injuries, gun shots, and degeneration from diseases like cancer.

Dr Okor said the way a patient was handled after a road traffic accident would go a long way in preventing or worsening spinal cord injury, as well as recovery.

“There are patients who may have minor spinal cord injury or incomplete spinal injury from an accident, but their condition can turn into complete or serious spinal chord injury if not handled properly.

“So the way a person is pulled out of a crashed car and transferred to another vehicle or an ambulance is important; and it is important to train relevant agencies attending to accident victims on this,” he stressed.

He said a patient with spinal cord injury needed specialist care which involved multidisciplinary approach and that, “He or she needs a high level care; ‘critical care; that is level two care or level three care’ and