| Adieu
Tella
By MONICA IHEAKAM
Monday,
October 22, 2007
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•
Late Tella
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
| |
Coach of victorious Golden Eaglets, Deacon Yemi Tella is
no more. He succumbed to the cold hand of death on Saturday
after days of uncertainty concerning his recovery from postrate
cancer, which attacked him before the last World Under-17
tournament in South Korea.
The 57-year-old, a former National Institute of Sports (Nisports)
lecturer had been diagnosed with postrate cancer in Korea
at the 8-nation tournament and was subsequently treated before
the commencement of the championship.
He returned to Nigeria with the Golden Eaglets after the tournament
and took ill again. He was rushed to Lagos University Teaching
Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba where doctors battled relentlessly
to save his life, but to no avail. The Golden Eaglets coach,
who has spent two weeks at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital’s
(LUTH) Intensive Care Unit (ICU) cut a picture of gloom last
Friday, as the team of forensic medical experts battling to
save his life appeared to have given in. In other words, the
case was hopeless. That was the bitter truth the doctor told
the wife, on Friday.
The situation report from doctors and the numerous consultations
between the wife of the chief strategist, Mrs. Modupe Tella,
showed that the case was hopeless. It was more gloomy when
the consultants tell you that taking him out of the country
was also ruled out because there were no machine in LUTH to
aid him from the hospital to the Airport and to whichever
country the family would have loved him to be flown to for
treatment.
Coach Tella was wheeled into the x-ray section of LUTH on
Thursday afternoon for Citi Scan, a procedure the doctors
said was imperative at that stage to ascertain the exact condition
of the functional abilities of his lungs and probably decide
on the next course of treatments to be administered to him.
Daily Sunsport enquries on Friday afternoon revealed that
the outcome of the Citi Scan was not encouraging. A medical
personnel disclosed that the chances of the ebullient coach
surviving the ordeal of his nerves-wrecking war against the
deadly cancer was totally slim. He stressed that Coach Tella’s
condition needed more than medical attention to survive.
The movement by family members and medical experts in change
of the coach around the ICU was very disturbing, with the
wife, Mrs. Modupe Tella wearing a downcast countenance after
several consultations with the doctors, concerning the outcome
of the Citi Scan.
One of coach Tella’s brothers was later called up to
the ICU section of the hospital by Mrs. Modupe and they went
into a discussion, which from observation, depicted signs
of hopelessness and resignations to whatever God has in stock
for their brother and husband. They came out of the family
meeting with forlorn faces.
Last Monday, a medical personnel had told members of the Golden
Eaglets handler’s family that he was in a terrible,
bad condition, adding that the cancer has ravaged his lungs
badly. The doctor, a female physician, advised that what was
needed was prayers and divine miracle from God.
The federal government had stormed LUTH hoping that money
or megabucks would do the magic promising to take over the
medical bills. With the visit of both Sports and Health ministers,
it was obvious that money wouldn’t have been a hindrance
in the battle to snatch the football Trojan from the jaws
of death. But that seems not to be the case.
"As a human being with blood flowing in my veins, what
I saw is very disturbing; the federal government is prepared
to do all it takes to bring him out of this situation,"
the Sports Minister, Abdulraman Gimba said.
Similarly, the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola,
ordered for the procurement of respiratory and ventilatory
machines, to be brought to LUTH to help with the treatment,
with promises of leaving no stone unturned to ensure that
his life was saved. Sports Minister and Chairman National
Sports Commission (NSC), Honourable Abdulraham Gimba, was
sent by President Yar’Adua to visit the victorious coach
in LUTH and gave the heartwarming message from the president
that the FG would do all that was required to save the soul
of Coach Tella.
Gimba’s countenance after he came out of the ICU, where
he went to see Tella on sick bed was visibly disturbing, as
he couldn’t overcome the shock.
With all the goodwill and out pouring of love and concern
from Nigerians from all walks of life, coupled with the round-the-clock
care from the medical hands in charge of ailing coach, all
that was left for all Nigerians was to hand over this case
to God and pray for His intervention to turn a hopeless case
to hope. But we all lost the battle.
Tella will be remembered as one of Nigerians indigenous coaches
who succeeded with the Eaglets and moreso, as a lecturer who
abandoned the classroom for coaching and wrote his name in
gold. |
