-Inquired while performing official duty
By George Buway
An officer of the Liberia National Police (LNP), who suffered third degree burn while performing his statutory duty in 2004, is calling on President George M. Weah to help him get further medical treatment abroad.
Nathaniel Lackay, a former Patrolman of the LNP said he met this unseen circumstance when he was performing his duty as a police officer in the Clara Town area in 2004.
According to officer Lackay, he was among the officers selected to remove gas sellers from the streets of Monrovia because rioters were buying gasoline from street sellers to burn mosques and churches during the crisis.
“While arresting gasoline vendors from Bushrod Island, a group of gasoline sellers attacked me and spilled a gallon of gasoline all over my body and set me blazed even though I was not alone on the mission, I was the only one affected because my colleagues escaped and I became the victim,” the wounded police officer sadly explained.
He further said that after the incident, he was taken to Ghana for first aid where he spent four years lying on a hospital bed in pains and anguish.
“I spend four years lying in pain and sorrow,’’ the added.
Officer Lackay, who expressed disappointment in the former Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-led Government, said after years of being in Ghana for four years, the Government of Liberia through madam Sirleaf made an arrangement with the Thailand Government. It was agreed by both governments that he be taken to Thailand for plastic surgery, because the surgery could not be performed in Ghana.
He also said that doctors from Thailand informed the hospital in Ghana to prepare him in three weeks’ time for surgery in Thailand.
But to his utmost surprise, the Liberian Ambassador to Ghana came to him telling him that the president request that he be flown back to Liberia.
“When I was informed of going back to Liberia, I was disappointed and I asked, how can I go back to Liberia in this kind of condition when I know that plastic surgeries are not done in Liberia?” the officer Lackay asked in fruastration.
Being disappointed by the news, he refused because according to him, he was still in pains and the doctors in Ghana told him that his condition does not required heat.
He later accepted to return to Liberia after he was convinced by the Ambassador and told that the Liberian Government has already put things in place to suit his condition.
Additionally, he was told that a Liberian plastic surgeon name Dr. Robert H. Dennis was in the country to take him to the United States for the surgery.
Officer Lackey explained further that when he arrived in Liberia and spoke with Dr. Dennis, he learned that there was no arrangement made between the Liberian government and the doctor.
He also said that he was taken to the John F. Kennedy Medical Center where he was readmitted.
While at the hospital in 2008, according to Officer Lackay, madam Sirleaf in her state of the nation address mentioned him cautioning young Liberians to join the police force saying that the government was going to take care of them in difficult times the way he was being taken care off.
In dismay, he said after the president’s speech when some journalists wanted to talk to him he was taken to the ICU in hidden to avoid him talking to the journalists.
“I wanted to talk to the journalists but they took me to the ICU and hid me there until the journalists left,” he narrated.
The abandoned officer said that after being in JFK for sometimes, he was discharged and taken home without any information about his wellbeing and has never received anything from the Liberian Government despite several letters written by him.
The officer who is living in grieve and frustration said he almost committed suicide because he sees no reason to be alive as his family including his two daughters have abandoned him.
“Even my mother has developed pressure because of my condition and I have no one to help take care of my children and pay my rent. The US$150 I get monthly is what I used for pain cullers and other medication”. He said sadly.
The aggrieved officer is calling on the president of Liberia to help him get medical treatment abroad because he knows that the president is a man of goodwill.
“Am happy that we now have a president who listens to the cries of his people, I also know that the time has come for me to be free from all of the pains and agonies I have been through for so many years because I have confidence in the president,” the wounded LNP officer concluded.