Renowned US-based Nogetian author, Chimamanda Adichie, has attributed her son’s tragic passing to negligence on the part of a doctor in a hospital in Lagos.
In a statement, Adichie said her son was taken to Euracare Hospital for an MRI scan and insertion of a central line, during which he was sedated but was not properly monitored after being administered propofol, leading to complications including loss of responsiveness, seizures, and cardiac arrest.
TheFact Daily recalls that the author’s 21-month-old twin son, Nkanu Nnamdi, died on Wednesday, 7th January, 2026.
Recounting the events that led to the tragic loss, Adichie explained that the boy took ill while the family was in Nigeria for the Christmas holiday, following which, he was admitted into Atlantis hospital
“He was to travel to the US the next day, January 7th, accompanied by Travelling Doctors. A team at Johns Hopkins was waiting to receive him in Baltimore. The Hopkins team had asked for a lumbar puncture test and an MRI. The Nigerian team had also decided to put in a ‘central line’ (used to administer iv medications) in preparation for Nkanu’s flight. Atlantis hospital referred us to Euracare Hospital, which was said to be the best place to have the procedures done.
“I was waiting just outside the theater. I saw people, including Dr M, rushing into the theater and immediately knew something had happened.
Adichie explained that “a short time later, Dr M came out and told me Nkanu had been given too much propofol by the anesthesiologist, had become unresponsive and was quickly resuscitated. But suddenly Nkanu was on a ventilator, he was intubated and placed in the ICU. The next thing I heard was that he had seizures. Cardiac arrest. All these had never happened before. Some hours later, Nkanu was gone.
She asserted that her son was never monitored after being given too much propofol. The anesthesiologist had just casually carried Nkanu on his shoulder to the theater, so nobody knows when exactly Nkanu became unresponsive. She wondered how a sedated child could go unmonitored, adding that, later, after the ‘central line’ procedure, the anesthesiologist casually switched off Nkanu’s oxygen and again decided to carry him on his shoulder to the ICU.
Adichie brokenhearted, accuse the anesthesiologist of criminal negligence. “He was fatally casual and careless with the precious life of a child. No proper protocol was followed”.
“We brought in a child who was unwell but stable and scheduled to travel the next day. We came to conduct basic procedures. And suddenly, our beautiful little boy was gone forever. It is like living your worst nightmare. I will never survive the loss of my child.
She noted that there were two prior cases of the same anesthesiologist overdosing children, prompting serious questions ad to why Euracare permitted him to continue working. “ This must never happen to another child”, she said.
