Kampala, Uganda

Around 1:40am on April 6th, Richard Kabunga was walking home from a friend’s housewarming party when he found a man lying unconscious outside a bar in his neighbourhood. 

“He had been left for dead by the roadside,” Kabunga says. “It was raining heavily, so his body was not only in shock but presented with symptoms of hypothermia.”

Kabunga works as a basic life support provider with the Red Cross. Immediately, he began performing CPR. “I pressed on his chest about nine times, and he came back,” Kabunga says. “I was so relieved and thankful to have been there at that time.”

David Wasswa, the man whose life Kabunga saved, still can’t remember exactly what happened that night. He and his friends had been drinking at the bar when an argument broke out with a group of other men. The situation escalated, and the men began punching and kicking Wasswa, who fell to the ground. As he lay motionless, the crown scattered into the night. His friends believed he was dead – and he might have been, if Kabunga had not found him.

“My head still hurts, and my body is sore, but at least I am breathing.” Wasswa says.

Many Ugandans are not so fortunate. Outside of hospitals, the country’s emergency care system is almost non-existent. Without a dedicated fleet of ambulances or trained emergency medical technicians, Ugandans who get into serious accidents or find themselves in life-threatening situations often are left to fend for themselves and hope for the best.

Read more about emergency care in Uganda here – https://globalpressjournal.com/africa/uganda/uganda-emergency-care-needs-life-support/ 

CREDIT – Patricia Lindrio, Senior Reporter, Global Press Journal.