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REMEMBER the publisher of the rested Everytime Magazine, Ben Iheanacho?
On being told of the passing on of John Abba Ogbodo who had just then been promoted Assistant Political Editor of The Guardian, Iheanacho screamed: “So it was accident? You think say that no be Odooo?”
I asked what that word meant.
But he just sat there in a reflective mood. Then calmly, he began the story of how he was declared clinically dead and yet came back to life.
“It all started on the 27th of November 2012. I had gone to the National Hospital after three days of vomiting to check my blood pressure.
I was informed by the hospital staff that my blood pressure was 250 over 150. Shortly after that, I went into a coma that put me out for nine days. Unfortunately. It was difficult finding a bed space
It was my wife and two of my friends – Dr. Sam Amadi and Dr. Marylne Amobi who quickly took a decision that saved me. She told me that before being transferred to a private hospital, in the early hours of 30th November, she got a call from the person looking after me that I had passed on and that her attention was needed at the hospital.
Continue reading after the cut...
“I had been on life support machine for days, as the unexpected happened in the early hours. The doctors had given up on me because the entire attempt to revive me failed. They had suspected a spiritual attack because everything failed. For days, I was fed through tubes, as my body was not accepting food. Later, they resorted to using iron spoon to force my mouth open. The doctors and medical personnel were had battled but it seemed it was all in vain.
“My wife called Dr. Amadi early morning and together, they mobilised two pastors and went to the hospital.”
And so it happened that in the early hours of the 30th of November, I died and my wife and friends were supposed to come pick up my corpse and head for the mortuary.”
They headed straight to where I was lying. Then, I was told, intense prayers began... Deep into the prayer, the Lord showed himself. Suddenly I sneezed! That was how I returned to life.”
Asked how it feels to cross over and return to earthly life, there was a long pause. Was there any interaction with beings of light? Did he hear any sound? Could he remember anything that happened during the hours he was pronounced dead?
His only response was “What can I tell you? I have also heard stories of people dying and coming back to life. It is indeed God’s way of responding to the evils of this world. For God, it was the right moment to show himself and what he is capable of doing.”
Asked how the life is now, He replied: “I spend more time with my loved ones almost fearing for the time I will start work again and then start to see them only very early in the morning and then when I am back from work, while other engagements always compete with the fleeting hours of Saturdays and Sundays… But I have a second chance to live again, thanks to Almighty God who ensured that I have the opportunity to live well and right too for a second time.”
When we are given the sort of chance to continue experiencing on earth when we might have been called away, we must find the purpose. What we make of it determines whether we were deserving of the grace and whether we recognize the significance of the gift of life on earth. Unfortunately, in these days of spiritual highwaymen, other interpretations may be read to this grace and a soul may never awaken by so doing.
For Ben, it’s welcome back to a more familiar terrain.
- Oghogho Obayuwana
Thank God.
Share your thoughts...thanks!
On being told of the passing on of John Abba Ogbodo who had just then been promoted Assistant Political Editor of The Guardian, Iheanacho screamed: “So it was accident? You think say that no be Odooo?”
I asked what that word meant.
But he just sat there in a reflective mood. Then calmly, he began the story of how he was declared clinically dead and yet came back to life.
“It all started on the 27th of November 2012. I had gone to the National Hospital after three days of vomiting to check my blood pressure.
I was informed by the hospital staff that my blood pressure was 250 over 150. Shortly after that, I went into a coma that put me out for nine days. Unfortunately. It was difficult finding a bed space
It was my wife and two of my friends – Dr. Sam Amadi and Dr. Marylne Amobi who quickly took a decision that saved me. She told me that before being transferred to a private hospital, in the early hours of 30th November, she got a call from the person looking after me that I had passed on and that her attention was needed at the hospital.
Continue reading after the cut...
“I had been on life support machine for days, as the unexpected happened in the early hours. The doctors had given up on me because the entire attempt to revive me failed. They had suspected a spiritual attack because everything failed. For days, I was fed through tubes, as my body was not accepting food. Later, they resorted to using iron spoon to force my mouth open. The doctors and medical personnel were had battled but it seemed it was all in vain.
“My wife called Dr. Amadi early morning and together, they mobilised two pastors and went to the hospital.”
And so it happened that in the early hours of the 30th of November, I died and my wife and friends were supposed to come pick up my corpse and head for the mortuary.”
They headed straight to where I was lying. Then, I was told, intense prayers began... Deep into the prayer, the Lord showed himself. Suddenly I sneezed! That was how I returned to life.”
Asked how it feels to cross over and return to earthly life, there was a long pause. Was there any interaction with beings of light? Did he hear any sound? Could he remember anything that happened during the hours he was pronounced dead?
His only response was “What can I tell you? I have also heard stories of people dying and coming back to life. It is indeed God’s way of responding to the evils of this world. For God, it was the right moment to show himself and what he is capable of doing.”
Asked how the life is now, He replied: “I spend more time with my loved ones almost fearing for the time I will start work again and then start to see them only very early in the morning and then when I am back from work, while other engagements always compete with the fleeting hours of Saturdays and Sundays… But I have a second chance to live again, thanks to Almighty God who ensured that I have the opportunity to live well and right too for a second time.”
When we are given the sort of chance to continue experiencing on earth when we might have been called away, we must find the purpose. What we make of it determines whether we were deserving of the grace and whether we recognize the significance of the gift of life on earth. Unfortunately, in these days of spiritual highwaymen, other interpretations may be read to this grace and a soul may never awaken by so doing.
For Ben, it’s welcome back to a more familiar terrain.
- Oghogho Obayuwana
Thank God.
Share your thoughts...thanks!
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