Tears, quiet prayers and heavy hearts filled the atmosphere as family and friends gathered to say their final goodbye to 29-year-old, engineer Charles Amissah.
For many who were present at the funeral, the pain of his loss is made deeper by the circumstances surrounding his death.
In the mother’s tribute she said “You were passionate about your work as an engineer. What makes this loss even harder to bear is the painful reality that the very system meant to preserve life failed you. Among your siblings are two medical doctors who have dedicated their lives to serving this country, caring for patients daily and trusting in the health care system. Yet when it mattered most that same system could not save you.”
Now, as he is laid to rest, his family say they are holding on to one hope that the attention will not fade with the burial.
“We are hoping that the government has heard our cry, and they will be able to meet in Parliament and be able to pass an emergency care bill that will put some fear and some sympathy in our health workers. We want Charles Amissah to be remembered as the one who ended the “no-bed syndrome” in this country.”
The President of the Accident Victims Support Foundation, Rev. Cyril Crabbe, reacting to the recent interdiction and suspension of culprits said, it is not enough. He therefore called for policy reforms.
“I believe that since Parliament has waded into this discussion, it shouldn’t end there. I believe that there should be policy review. There is a compensation fund that is supposed to help crash victims, hit and run cases. The compensation fund should be used,” he said.
Charles’s passing has been described as an amplifier, one that seeks to push the nation to confront the realities of emergency care and ensure no family endures this kind of goodbye again.
