Tuesday, October 16, 2018 will not only be remember as a day when people came together for the sake of humanity despite their differences, but also the day the life of a little boy identified as Frank Iwuchukwu was saved.
According to Vanguard, the incident occurred in Ehime Mbano local council area of Imo state. Little Frank was on his way to St. Paul’s Cathedral, Ezeoke Nsu for Monday class when it stepped on the yawning 100 feet abandoned borehole, covered in grass.
Despite the efforts by his 6-year-old sister to prevent him from falling, the 3-year-old fell in and that was the beginning of the traumatic experience that lasted for 23 hours. During a thanksgiving service arranged by the Diocese in honour of the lucky boy, Bishop David O. C. Onuoha said it was a harrowing experience.
According to the bishop who was alerted by other priests about the incident, several people came together and gave it their all in order to collectively save the boy’s life.
In his words: “I arrived the scene on receiving a distress call from one of the priests in the Cathedral at 5.45pm. What I saw was a revival of the indomitable spirit of Ezeoke patriots, as everyone was engaged in one activity or the other, with a view to bringing the boy out alive. Young men were very busy, trying one technique or the other. Others stood by, offering one idea or the other. Children were all over the place, weeping uncontrollably. People forgot food, sleep and rest. They were all united in the effort to bring out Frank.”
He went on to state that even the fire service departments which came from Umuahia, Abia state, and Owerri and tried to rescue the boy without success. It was then that an idea was proffered that a parallel rescue well should be dug very near to the one holding the boy. The idea was to connect the two, on reaching the level where the boy was.
The bishop went on to say that the northerners in the village eventually came to the rescue as a man identified as Hassan put in the last effort that brought Frank out of the hole successfully.
“He told me of the plans to open a window between the two wells for the boy to come out, but his colleagues were not buying into the idea. When I saw the passion, zeal and conviction in him, I was left in no doubt that the time for the miracle had come. I immediately agreed with the DPO that he should be given a chance. The young man, Hassan, a motor mechanic, who was in Ezeoke to repair a vehicle, was also attracted to the scene.
He went in, opened the connecting window and lowered a sack with ropes at the two sides and asked the boy to get into the sack and he started pulling it.
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After a while, there were shouts of joy, because the boy was now in the new well, ready to move to the surface. The atmosphere was charged! The young man carried the boy on his shoulders and painstakingly climbed up to the surface. Here was Frank alive. The doctor later confirmed that the boy had no fracture, no internal injury, no serious wound, save minor bruises on his left hand and at his back.”
Following the horrible experience, the bishop announced during the church service, the immediate founding of Miracle Endowment Fund which was welcomed with a donation by the Deputy Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Dr Jonas Okeke who announced automatic scholarship for the boy, from primary to university level and the sum of N1m to the Fund.
Two others identified as Tochi Ihekwoaba and Sir Ikenna Chukwuocha also announced full scholarship for the boy, to the university level.
