Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka

A 21-year-old nursing mother has been crushed to death in Umungada village, Umuomaku in Orumba South local government of Anambra State while attempting to save her father from a tree fall.

The victim, Chinwendu Ike, was said to have gone to catch her father, Mr. Samuel Ike, who was falling from a pear tree at the back of their house but was crushed by the weight of her dad.

She was rushed to a hospital in Umuchu where she, however, gave up the ghost few days later.

According to her mother, Mrs. Franca Ike, who was also a witness to the unfortunate incident, her husband defied her advice not to climb the pear tree and on the process of plucking the pear fruits the branch he was on broke and he fell off the tree.

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She told newsmen that her late daughter was inside the house when her father shouted for help and in the process of attempting to save him, she was badly hit by the weight of her father.

She said: “I have severally warned him to desist from climbing trees on Sundays but he wouldn’t listen. That Sunday, Samuel defied my warning. He was on the tree plucking pears when the branch he was standing on broke.

“He fell on another branch and as he clung unto that branch helplessly, he started shouting and calling for help. It was at point that Chinwendu, who heard the call, ran out to the backyard and met the falling body of her father who had already slipped from the second branch.

“As she stretched her hands to catch him, his head hit her on the chest. She was later taken to hospital at Umuchu where she died after some days.”

Meanwhile, the remains of Chinwendu had been buried in the compound, while the pear tree was cut down by the villagers.