Ola Orekunrin, now 30 years from Ilawe-Ekiti in Ekiti State of Nigeria, was born, raised and trained in the UK, where she graduated as one of the
youngest medical doctors in England . She is also a trainee helicopter
pilot.
While she was studying to become a doctor in the UK,
her younger sister fell seriously ill while traveling in Nigeria. The
12-year-old girl, who’d gone to the West African country on holiday with
relatives, needed urgent care, but the nearest hospital couldn’t deal with her
condition.
Orekunrin and her family immediately began looking for an
air ambulance service to rapidly transport the girl, a sickle cell anemia
sufferer, to a more suitable healthcare facility. They searched all across West
Africa but were stunned to find out there were none in the whole region.
“The nearest one at the time was in South Africa,” remembers
Orekunrin. “They had a 12-hour activation time so by the time they were ready
to activate, my sister was dead".
“It was really a devastating time for me and I started
thinking about whether I should be in England talking about healthcare in
Africa, or I should be in Africa dealing with healthcare and trying to do
something about it.”
Orekunrin did the latter. Motivated by the tragic death of
her sister, the young doctor decided to leave behind a high-flying job in the
UK to take to the Nigerian skies and address the vital issue of urgent
healthcare in Africa’s most populous country.
Determined to make a difference in medical practice and health care delivery system in Nigeria, Orekunrin decided to set up Lagos-based Flying Doctors Nigeria, the first air ambulance service in West Africa, transporting victims of medical emergencies, including industrial workers from the country’s booming oil and gas sector. It basically provides critical care transportation solutions to both the private and public sector by selling yearly air ambulance cover plans to states, companies and individuals.
Since then, she has successfully steered the company
upwards in achieving its corporate goals and ensuring sustained growth.“Against all odds, I passed my A-Levels with flying colors,
started my degree at the University of York at 15. I supported myself all
through, working. I wrote my final medical examinations at 21, thus emerging
the youngest medical doctor in England,” said Ola Orekunrin.
No comments:
Post a Comment