By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
For Daniel Emori, life stopped at 21 because of a stray cow. Today, October 10, 2026 marks his 23 years in a sick bed.
Born May 3, 1982, into a poor home in Adadama, Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State, Daniel finished his SSCE in 2000 and migrated to Onitsha, Anambra State, to hustle.
He worked for two years as a Machine Operator at Peter E Venture Plastic Company, saved his wages and enrolled at Nchendu Driving/Training Academy.
He later became a private and commercial driver before he got what looked like his big break as a delivery van driver with Rico Pharmaceutical Company.
The big break became a big tragedy while on official duty at Fegge, along the River Niger Bridge.
Delivering goods to a customer, an uncontrolled stray cow charged from nowhere, hit him with its horn and knocked him down. He never stood 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 raise it.
Daniel recalled that money released by the company director for his treatment was diverted by a manager who fed the management with false information about his condition.
After months of hopelessness, he was carried back home to Adadama, completely bedridden.
In 2013/2014, when a deadly communal war erupted between Adadama and a neighbouring community in Ebonyi State, armed youths invaded Adadama and everyone fled into the bush.
Everyone except Daniel, who was locked inside a house, unable to run, unable to crawl. From his sickbed, he called Mr. Richard Ndoma, who at that time worked with the defunct National Mirror Newspaper then. Ndoma now works with LEADERSHIP newspaper which published his story.
The report saved him. A UK-based Nigerian from Adamawa State contacted Rev. Charles from Delta State to evacuate him, and a God-sent couple from Northern Nigeria sponsored his spinal surgery at an Indian specialist hospital in Karu, Abuja, and rented an apartment for him.
That surgery kept him alive but did not restore his legs. Today, at 44, Daniel lives with stiff joints, terrible bedsores that refuse to heal 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 that God has been using to sustain me till today, since my 23 years on sickbed. I just need feeding to survive as I await God’s decision on my fate.”
After surviving a cow attack, abandonment and communal war on his sickbed, Daniel now faces slow death by hunger, unless good Samaritans, non-governmental organisations, NGOs good-spirited fellow Nigerians and the Cross River State government come to his aid.
Help can reach him on 0703 165 5209 or through his UBA Account – 3072008766. Account name: Daniel Emori.
Your little contribution can help sustain his life and save him hunger.
