By Felix Asuquo Calabar
44-year-old Daniel Emori from Adadama in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State has spent more than half of his adult life on sickbed after a stray cow attack.
It happened on October 10, 2003, when he was just 21. Born May 3, 1982, into a poor family, Daniel finished his SSCE in 2000 and moved to Onitsha, Anambra State, to hustle.
He worked for two years as a Machine Operator at Peter E Venture Plastic Company, saved his earnings and trained at Nchendu Driving/Training Academy. He later worked as a private and commercial driver before securing a job as a delivery van driver with Rico Pharmaceutical Company.
On that fateful day, while on official duty delivering goods to a customer at Fegge along the River Niger Bridge, an uncontrolled stray cow emerged from nowhere, hit him with its horn and knocked him down.
He could not stand again. He was rushed to a clinic and later referred to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Enugu, where doctors diagnosed cervical spinal cord injury and demanded N75,000 for emergency surgery. His family could not afford it.
Daniel alleged that money released by the company director for his treatment was diverted by a manager who misinformed management about his condition. After months at UNTH without surgery, he was carried back to Adadama, completely bedridden.
His ordeal worsened in 2013/2014 when a deadly communal crisis broke out between Adadama and a neighbouring community in Ebonyi State. Armed youths invaded Adadama and everyone fled into the bush except Daniel, who was locked inside a house unable to run or crawl.
From his sickbed, he reached out to Mr. Richard Ndoma, who at that time worked with defunct with National Mirror Newspaper, now with LEADERSHIP, who published his story after tracing Mr. Daniel to his Adadama village.
The publication attracted a UK-based Nigerian from Adamawa State who contacted Rev. Charles from Delta State to evacuate him, and a couple from Northern Nigeria who sponsored his spinal surgery at an Indian specialist hospital in Karu, Abuja.
The surgery kept him alive but did not restore his legs. Today, as he prepares to mark 23 years on sickbed on October 10, 2026, Daniel battles joint stiffness, terrible bedsores and daily hunger.
He said: “Though I’m not even talking about medical treatment anymore. I just want to thank and appreciate the Nigerian media and the general public God has been using to sustain me till today of my 23 years on sickbed. I just need feeding to survive as I await God’s decision on my fate.”
He can be reached on 0703 165 5209 or UBA Account 3072008766, Daniel Emori
