Muhindo Wilson

I lost my 3-year-old beautiful daughter on 12/06/2023 at Kampala Hospital. It initially started with what I was told was a “bacterial infection.” She was later diagnosed with pancreatitis, and I spent about 2 weeks in hospital with my little girl, watching her go through unimaginable pain. At one point, they were managing her pain with a fentanyl patch. A FENTANYL PATCH!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Imagine watching your 3-year-old child in that much pain. On Saturday, 10th June 2023, she ran away from her admission bed to me, so hot like a frying pan, and told me, “Dad, let’s go home.” 😭😭😭😩 After an MRI/CT scan done at Kampala Imaging Center on Balintuma Road, the radiologist clearly said that “it wasn’t coordinating.” The scan itself took about 20 minutes, but it took another 50 minutes to print the images. After a lengthy conversation on a call with Dr. Stella Nimanya, I was told they needed to take her to theatre and perform an operation to find out what was happening. I assented. I signed the surgical papers. And I watched them take my daughter to theatre. She was alive. I will never forget that. “Dad, bye….” 😭😭😭 Then she suffered her first cardiac arrest. When they went in, they discovered that her bile duct had ruptured. They resuscitated her, completed the operation and took her to ICU. I watched them fight to save my little girl. Then, at 1:07am, she suffered a second cardiac arrest. At 2:37am, she suffered a third cardiac arrest. And that was it. I lost my daughter. 😭😭😭😭😭 I wanted to fly my child out for treatment. I was ready to do whatever it took, whatever it cost. But I was assured that everything was under control. That is the part that still breaks me. I trusted that she was in safe hands. I was her father. I was supposed to protect her, but there I was, standing in a hospital, watching my 3-year-old daughter fight for her life, completely helpless. And after all that bullshit, you still have to pay huge sums of money. 😭😭😭 Uganda’s health sector is fucked up. Even when you have money and are ready to do everything possible to save your child, you can still find yourself completely helpless. I almost sued those mfs. I really did. But I kept it cool because what the hell was I supposed to do after losing my child? How do you sue your way back into holding your daughter? How do you sue your way back into hearing her voice? How do you sue your way back into seeing your 3-year-old beautiful girl again? You can’t. She is gone, and I have to live with that for the rest of my life. I now understand why people with power and money often seek treatment outside Uganda when they fall seriously ill. When it is your own child lying in that hospital bed, you realise that having money and being willing to do everything possible still does not mean you can save them. My daughter went into theatre alive. I left the hospital without her. I will never forget that. Never. 😭😭😭😭😭