Dr. Nelson Udeme, a medical practitioner, revealed that he was subjected to assault and death threats by a relative of a deceased patient. However, he stated that he has since forgiven the grieving relative after receiving a public apology.
Udeme made this revelation following the appearance of a public apology penned by Oludaisi Tajudeen in a national daily, The PUNCH, which circulated online on Sunday.
In his apology, Tajudeen expressed remorse for his previous outburst and requested forgiveness from both Dr. Udeme and the management of the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan, located in Oyo State.
His letter of apology addressed to UCH’s Chief Medical Director, reads, “I, Mr Oludaisi Olanrewaju Tajudeen, hereby apologise to the Chief Medical Director, the management of the hospital, Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Nelson Udeme of the University College Hospital for my emotional outburst at the doctor on duty at the High dependency unit of UCH following the death of my mother, Mrs Oludaisi Busurat.
“I also withdraw any verbal threat to him and any other healthcare worker. I plead for the understanding and mercy of the UCH
“I promise this will not repeat itself again.”
Explaining what led to the public apology, the medical doctor, who tweets on X as @_Pgenius, explained that despite the loss of a loved one, it was important for relatives to understand doctors are humans who also feel pain.
According to him, doctors are not objects to venting systemic frustrations.
He wrote, “A lot of you on X must have seen this apology letter on various social platforms. Truly I was assaulted and threatened to be killed. Thank you to everyone who checked up on me. However, I feel the need to pass on an important message to the general public.
“Doctors have no intention to kill your sick relatives. Many times patients do come in a critical state expecting doctors to do the near impossible. Seeing patients die also has a negative effect on our mental health as health professionals.
“We must learn to control our rage in any difficult situation. Truly we all react to emotional pain differently, however, extreme actions as a response to emotional pain are a recipe for untoward retribution. And for sure, it will only add to the pain.
“Doctors are not objects to vent systemic frustrations upon. We get sick like you too and many times we cannot even afford to get proper treatment within the same health system you so want to vent your anger upon. The doctor is not the health system!
“I sincerely appreciate the role of @uch_ard, President @oladapoj1 and my seniors in the Neurology unit who ensured justice in this situation.
“I have since made peace with the assailant and I sincerely hope that there will be an end to issues like this.”
