‘Dr. Bone’
is reluctant to make fortunes from the bone setting his mother
did for gratis
By JOSEPH AIMIENMWONA
Saturday, September 11, 2004
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•Dr.
Bone
Photo By Sun News Publishing |
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Until his mother’s death, it hardly occurred to him
that the same services they religiously moved from house to
house rendering to people at no costs at all was simply a
goldmine waiting to be exploited. Though he is now aware of
the money that can be made from the trade, “Dr. Bone”
is still reluctant to latch onto it.
Yes, people live dangerously, drive fast bikes, fall from
trees, get hit by vehicles and regularly break a bone or two.
It is for cases like these that the orthopaedic hospitals
exist and students and their families invest fortunes learning
to mend broken bones. But for the Okuntimehins, the science
and art of bone-mending is a god-given thing. And since the
good Lord charged no fees to teach them, they felt it was
not proper to charge patients any fees to cure them. But all
that has changed now, even as persistent effort is made to
ensure that fees and prices do not become the sole determinant
of whether or not a patient gets attention.
Meet “Dr. Bone”
His patients and indeed close watchers delight in calling
him Dr. Bone - a metaphoric expression occasioned by the medical
exploits of this bone setter. Ironically, the trade name has
stuck and overshadowed his name such that his real name, S.A
Okuntimehin has become a distant memory.
However, the traditional bone setter from Igbokoda in the
Ilaje speaking area of Ondo State has brought succor to accident
victims particularly okada riders many who are daily engaged
in suicide missions in a bid to eke a living.
The traditional therapy employed by Dr. bone in breathing
new life into dry bones had therefore turned the relatively
unknown Ejigbo suburb into a sanctuary for those whose world
had been turned upside down by bone-shattering accidents.
Passed on from mother to son
For Okuntimehin, medicare seems to be an inherited gene. His
mother was a traditional birth attendant, taking deliveries
for the women of the locality and also setting broken bones
on the side. It is his mother’s practice that Dr. Bone
has taken to greater heights today.
"What eventually metamorphosed into an acupuncture centre
started in Igbokoda where my late mother who specialized in
bone setting and antenatal health care delivery services laid
the foundation", Okuntimehin explains, adding that "today,
the inspiration of my mother has become a role model in alternative
bone therapy. At that time, my mother used to visit patients
in their homes. In a curious way, it was strictly a humanitarian
endeavour, as she was not really interested in fees and financial
gratification.
As a young man, Okuntimehin said he watched his mother as
an apprentice while helping out in sourcing the various paraphernalia
of the trade.
"Having understudied the process involved, it occurred
to me that the knowledge of herbal medication must not die.
From then onwards, I developed a passionate love for the development
and sustenance of alternative medicine in bone setting. Although
I later moved to Lagos, I was always in the company of my
mother through her sojourn in the world of bone setting".
Getting started
"To actualize the lofty dream of establishing a home
for accident victims, I invited my mother to Lagos in order
to preface the essential rudiments of alternative therapy
practice. That was in 1994, but it was not until 1997 that
a permanent clinic was established at No. 6/8 Akintan Close
Bakery Bus Stop, Ejigbo with a common boundary with the Petroleum
Products Marketing Company, NNPC, Ejigbo depot".
Presently, the Clinic is operating in a story building located
in an environment which may not be anybody’s idea of
an ideal hospital. But the bone setter says this is due to
dearth of choice accommodation and the fact that overheads
have to be kept at the minimum to keep whatever bills the
patients have to pay to the barest minimum.
"Our patients are crammed in various wards with no bed
except for worn-out foam spread on bare floor".
On regular basis, he says, the clinic recieves an average
of between 40–60 patients. Many of the patients are
even people who were taken out from the National Orthopedic
Hospital Igbobi, by the families for fear of amputation.
Appeal for assistance
Given that many of the patients and their families are often
poor and desperate, it would be inhuman to slam them with
the heavy bills that sometimes complicated treatments would
normally attract. What this means, is that, like his mother,
he has discovered that so much of his therapy has to be given
either gratis or enormously subsidized. In the end, Okuntimehin
says he only manages to scrape a living.
"Due to the Herculean task", Dr. Bone says, "it
is my sincere hope and aspiration that corporate bodies, non-governmental
organizations, including the WHO would come to the aid of
the clinic. We need assistance from philanthropists and stakeholders
in healthcare delivery.
Ours is a humanitarian endeavour because many of the patients
are brought here in a state of coma by good Samaritans. As
a result, the usual protocol of payment of deposit is not
applied. We are essentially established to save lives. Believe
it or not, many of the patients discharged still owe us huge
sums of money. Many of them were terrible cases whose limbs
and arms would have been amputated in the orthodox hospitals.
To the glory of God, we have never had cause to amputate the
limbs of any of our patients.
Roll call of patients
The clinic has witnessed a good number of patients who have
successfully undergone treatment and rehabilitation. From
government officials and security agents, our clinic has become
a reservoir of mercy for accident victims. Over 1000 patients
have passed through the clinic since 1997 when we started
operation.
Expansion
We are working on the modalities for future expansion. Only
recently, the fortunes of the clinic received a boost when
an anonymous philanthropist donated a piece of land for the
development and expansion of the clinic. Due to financial
constraint, the dream has almost turned out to be a state
of utopia. The dream must not die.
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