Family tackles LASUTH: Our brother died after six-hour delay

The morning of Sunday, September 6, 2026, began like any other Sunday for Olatunde Ojelabi and his family.

Being the first Sunday of the month, it was a special one at their church, as members celebrating their birthdays in September were expected to stand before the congregation and give thanks for another year of life.

Olatunde was turning 46 the following day, September 7, and looked forward to his turn.

Well-dressed and looking resplendent, he headed to church with his family.

But the birthday thanksgiving never happened.

As he drove along Ijegun Road in Ikotun, Lagos, with his wife, Mopelola, and two of his three children, a commercial tricycle, popularly known as a Keke Marwa, reportedly veered into his path while attempting to pick up passengers.

On impulse, Olatunde swerved, causing his vehicle to crash into a stationary vehicle.

The impact was severe. The airbags deployed, cushioning the force of the collision to some extent, but the steering wheel still struck Olatunde’s face, leaving him with serious injuries, particularly on the right side.

The Sunday morning journey to church had suddenly become a fight for survival.

His wife also sustained injuries but was conscious enough to hold on to the badly shaken children, while residents and motorists frantically tried to help Olatunde out of the vehicle and ensure he received the necessary help.

Olatunde was rushed to a nearby private hospital, by which time members of his family, including his elder brother, Kolawole Ojelabi, had been notified of the incident.

According to the brother, they all hoped the injuries could be treated there, but the extent of the injuries was beyond the facility’s capacity.

“He was immediately moved to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, upon referral by the private hospital,”       Kolawole told Sunday PUNCH.

For the family, the journey to LASUTH was a desperate search for a place where Olatunde could receive the urgent treatment they believed he needed.

According to Kolawole, Olatunde arrived at the hospital’s Medical Emergency Unit before 9am.

The family expected that the arrival of the critically injured accident victim at a tertiary hospital would mark the beginning of emergency care.

Instead, Kolawole said, what followed was hours of uncertainty.

“We waited and watched him deteriorate,” he recounted.

According to Kolawole, his brother remained outside the emergency ward for more than six hours because there was no bed available.

For the family, the passage of time became increasingly frightening.

They watched their brother and loved one lie injured while they waited for him to be taken into the emergency ward.

Then, according to Kolawole, Olatunde began to convulse.

“He began to convulse and eventually suffered a cardiac arrest,” he said with palpable pain in his voice.

Kolawole and other members of the family, who had converged at the facility, watched as the situation they had feared unfolded.

“My brother, who left home happy and well dressed for church and looking forward to his 46th birthday thanksgiving, was now fighting for his life. It was hard to watch,” Kolawole said.

Medical personnel eventually intervened to resuscitate him, according to the brother.

An emergency procedure known as a tracheostomy was performed by a team of doctors after the family gave their consent.

The procedure involved creating an opening in the front of Olatunde’s neck to provide an airway.

He was later transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for further treatment and monitoring.

But even after the transfer, the family said the experience continued to leave them distressed and angry.

Kolawole recalled one incident that particularly unsettled them.

According to him, the family was asked to buy a plastic bucket, towel and detergent to clean the floor where Olatunde’s blood had spilled.

For relatives who had arrived at the hospital with a critically injured man, the request was difficult to comprehend.

“We were dealing with a man who lay critically ill and fighting for his life, yet we found ourselves looking for basic cleaning items,” Kolawole said, sounding exasperated.

The distressed brother said the incident became one of several experiences that raised questions about the treatment Olatunde received.

In the ICU, the family’s anxiety did not subside.

Kolawole alleged that he was asked to go to the ICU himself to determine whether there was a bed space available for his brother after paying N1.2m.

He revealed paying for carers and, according to him, was also asked to purchase medications and conduct several tests during Olatunde’s first three days in the ICU.

But while they were paying for drugs and investigations and hoping for signs of improvement, Kolawole said they were struggling to understand what was happening to Olatunde.

He said the family was not adequately informed about the purpose of some of the medications or the treatment strategy.

“I eventually had to seek the assistance of one of the senior doctors at LASUTH to come to the ICU and brief my brother’s wife and me about his condition,” he said.

The doctor, according to Kolawole, explained the interventions and investigations carried out and told them that Olatunde was “still critically ill.”

For the family, the explanation offered some clarity but little comfort.

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“Part of my question and that of my family members is: Could something have been done earlier? Could the deterioration have been prevented? And what happened during the hours they said Olatunde spent outside the emergency ward?”

Kolawole questioned why an accident victim in critical condition was allegedly left waiting because there was no bed and whether appropriate emergency protocols, triage and trauma assessments were promptly carried out.

“Could earlier intervention have prevented the deterioration that followed?” he asked.

‘My brother died a needless death’

As the days passed, the family held on to hope that Olatunde would recover.

But six days after the crash, that hope was shattered. Olatunde died on September 12, five days after his 46th birthday.

For Kolawole and the rest of the family, his death brought not only grief but also anger and questions they said they could not simply put aside.

Kolawole said the family wanted answers about the circumstances surrounding his brother’s treatment, stressing that their concerns went beyond their personal loss to broader questions about accountability in emergency healthcare.

“If there were failures in the care he received, those failures must be confronted honestly, transparently and without fear,” he insisted.

Kolawole called on the Lagos State Government, LASUTH management, healthcare regulators and other relevant authorities to examine what happened and establish the facts.

“Olatunde Joseph Ojelabi was alive when he arrived at LASUTH. He left the hospital six days later in death,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion.

For the family, he said, the loss was made more painful by the belief that more could have been done to save him.

“My brother died a needless death. His family deserves answers. Lagos deserves answers. And Nigerians deserve a healthcare system in which an emergency patient is treated first as a human life to be saved, not as a number waiting for a bed,” Kolawole said.

He was not abandoned – LASUTH

But LASUTH has rejected the family’s account that Olatunde was left unattended.

When Sunday PUNCH contacted the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Prof Adetokunbo Fabamwo, he said the allegations contained in Kolawole’s social media post had been carefully examined.

Fabamwo said the hospital’s assessment was that the account was unfair to the institution and the medical team that attended to Olatunde.

“Our conclusion is that the writer had been most uncharitable to the hospital and the team of health workers that attended to his brother,” he said.

According to Fabamwo, Olatunde arrived at LASUTH with fatal injuries and received attention from medical specialists.

He said that despite it being a Sunday morning, three different surgical consultants attended to the patient.

“The records are available. We have issued a rebuttal. If you want to engage the hospital further, please come tomorrow to speak to the Director of Clinical Services,” Fabamwo said.

Meanwhile, the Director of Clinical Services, Prof Adebowale Adekoya, said the allegation that Olatunde was left waiting for six hours because there was no bed space “never happened.”

He said, “I am not sure you have seen patients involved in road traffic accidents; they are emergencies. No relative will stay there for up to four hours without running. You will quickly take the person and start looking for help elsewhere. It never happened and, as a matter of fact, it is not fair to the hardworking doctors and nurses attending to these patients.

“Nowhere in this part of the country, or even outside the country, would you have a surgeon attending to a patient on a Sunday? Thank God he mentioned that a tracheostomy was done. This is not fair. We had consultants attend to the patient.

“We are in a country where we are already demotivated. When we have this kind of publication, it demoralises healthcare workers.”

While referencing the cleaning items demanded by the facility, he said, “The bucket and detergent he is talking about are part of an admission pack. Anybody who will be admitted will get an admission pack, which includes a transparent bucket.”

In a statement shared on its Facebook page on Thursday, LASUTH stated that Olatunde was assessed as a polytrauma patient requiring multidisciplinary specialist care.

The hospital said he was assessed and managed by relevant clinical teams, including different consultant surgeons, based on the nature and severity of his injuries.

According to the management, Olatunde’s condition was critical and required intensive monitoring and multidisciplinary management.

“Despite the interventions and supportive care provided, the patient’s clinical condition unfortunately deteriorated, and the patient subsequently passed away in the Intensive Care Unit, approximately seven days after presentation,” the statement read.

LASUTH said the allegation that Olatunde was simply left unattended was “not consistent with the information available to the hospital regarding the patient’s care.”

The hospital explained that, as a tertiary healthcare institution, it provides specialised and multidisciplinary care for critically ill and severely injured patients.

It added that patients with complex trauma might require the coordinated involvement of several medical specialties and that outcomes could be influenced by the severity and extent of injuries despite “appropriate and timely” medical intervention.

Yet, while disputing the family’s account, LASUTH acknowledged the concerns raised by Olatunde’s relatives.

“Management acknowledges the concerns expressed by the family and understands the distress and grief that accompany the loss of a loved one,” the statement added.

The hospital said it took allegations concerning patient care seriously and would review the circumstances surrounding Olatunde’s presentation, treatment, progression and eventual outcome through appropriate institutional processes.

According to the management, the review would help establish the facts and identify any areas requiring further attention.

LASUTH said it would provide further clarification through appropriate channels where necessary, while respecting the confidentiality of the deceased patient and the privacy of his family.