By Nformi Ngi Jones Tamfu
In a bizarre turn of events that has stunned the community in Kumbo and the social media, an elderly patient by name Pa Sixtus at Banso Baptist Hospital (BBH) staged his own death in a desperate and dramatic attempt to reconnect with his runaway children. The elaborate trick, conceived out of “painful experience of being neglected,” led to his children arriving at the hospital with a coffin, only to find their father alive and well.
The extraordinary tale began after the man was admitted due to illness. Despite enduring five days of silence and “abandonment” from his children, who refused to visit him during his time of need, the patient decided to take drastic action.
He instructed an attending nurse to spread the news of his supposed demise, a shocking scheme he hoped would “push them into action” and force a change in their attitude.
Motivated by what was described as guilt or obligation, the children “hurriedly made their way to the hospital,” prepared for a quick burial and carrying a coffin for their father’s assumed remains.
The true moment of astonishment arrived when they were met not with a body, but with the sight of their father “casually strolling out of the hospital, full of life and vitality.”
The children were initially frozen in disbelief, mistaking their father for a ghost. However, the elderly man could not contain his laughter at the success of his strange plan.
He had orchestrated the entire scenario to highlight a painful truth: that his children seemingly “preferred to envision him as deceased rather than take the time to care for him while he was alive.”
Stunned by the spectacle, the children were left to wonder the lengths their father had gone to obtain their attention. They returned home with the empty coffin, now a stark symbol of their neglect.
In the aftermath, the children were filled with remorse, approaching their father to plead for forgiveness. They expressed a desire for him to return home, hoping to convince family members and friends that he was indeed alive and well, signifying a renewed longing for family unity.
The incident has left the family navigating the awkward consequences, including an empty coffin and a quickly prepared grave. The saga serves as a poignant, if highly unusual, reminder of the importance of family connection and the desperate measures one may resort to when relationships are strained by indifference. Who is to blame? The children or the society in which we live which prefers to celebrate people only after they are dead. “Njangis” or meeting houses will contribute money to support you burry your love one and will not contribute any franc to support safe the life of a love one.
