-After ambulance transporting her stuck on damaged bridge in Nimba
BY: Shallon S.Gonlor/
GARPLAY TOWN, NIMBA COUNTY—Ms. Comfort Paye, a woman in her 40s, died while being transported in an ambulance that got stuck over a deliberated low bridge on Sunday.
Ms. Comfort met her sudden demise following childbirth complications
after the ambulance carrying her was unable to cross the deliberated bridge in Garplay Town, Nimba County District #4. Health practitioners say that they struggled for more than two hours to cross the deliberated bridge.
Community members in the area expressed sorrow about the incident, pointing fingers at past leaders for neglecting the necessary repairs on the bridge. They called for immediate action to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
The maternal mortality ratio in Liberia has been alarmingly high, with 652 women dying per 100,000 live births due to pregnancy-related causes. Despite a slight improvement from 777 to 652 in 2020, Liberia still faces challenges in reducing maternal mortality rates compared to its regional average.
Ms. Comfort Paye, who was a resident of Mahn-Diaplay Town, lost her life due to the lack of proper road connectivity between her community and the nearest health facility. She developed complications at the Gbevonwea Clinic and was under referral to the Karnplay Comprehensive Health Center when the incident occurred.
The Gbeivonwea Clinic serves about six catchment communities but lacks Maternity Waiting Homes to accommodate pregnant women moving closer to the clinic for safe delivery as the Government of Liberia under former president Ellen Sirleaf band home delivery.
Maternity Waiting Homes (MWH) are residential facilities, located near a qualified medical facility, where women defined as “high risk” can await their delivery and be transferred to a nearby medical facility shortly before delivery, or earlier should complications arise.
MWH is also a key element of a strategy to “bridge the geographical gap” in obstetric care between rural areas, with poor access to equipped facilities, and urban areas where the services are available. As one component of a comprehensive package of essential obstetric services, maternity waiting homes offer a low-cost way to bring women closer to needed obstetric care.
Meanwhile, the Administrator of the Karnplay Comprehensive Health Centre, Charles Karlea confirmed the death of Comfort at the Droyee bridge. He explained that the ambulance could not easily pass over the bridge with the lady and had to take almost two hours, something that resulted in her death on Sunday, June 23, 2024.
The Droyee Bridge located in Garplay Town has been serving as a death trip to commuters some of whom have on many occasions fallen onto the bridge due to its bad status.
Information gathered is that the child left behind is being cared for by family members who need assistance to keep him alive.
The death of Comfort has raised a serious concern among citizens in the region including the District’s Representative, Ernest M. Manseah who donated 40 gallons of fuel to citizens in the area to rehabilitate the bridge.
He expressed regret about the situation and said that they should not be making interventions after the death of a resident of the area. According to him, in 2021 he donated 100 bags of cement towards the construction of the bridge, but was surprised to hear that the bridge was still in a deplorable condition.
Representative Manseah lamented further that besides his donations, several prominent sons and daughters of the region have been making contributions towards the construction of the bridge, but those heading the bridge project have not done anything about it.
The bridge is one of the several bridges along the Behplay-Beo Yoola road that is in very deplorable condition impeding smooth movement. Over the years, a community-based group called Twah Kwalokwakoleh for Development (TKD) raised over US$5,000 for the construction of a modern bridge, but nothing tangible was achieved as the community remains one of the major deplorable roads in Nimba County.
