Quatre enfants perdus dans un accident : Le réquisitoire d'un père meurtri contre « l'argent avant la vie »
It's a testimony that defies reason and breaks the heart. This Wednesday, for the third installment of our series on the failings of the healthcare system, Seneweb gives the floor to El Hadji Amath Dieng. This father experienced the unspeakable: watching his four children die one after another before his eyes in a road accident. Between the pain of grief and his outrage at a hospital system where "money comes before survival," he delivers a powerful plea for a more humane approach to medicine.
As he did every year after the Korité festival, El Hadji Amath Dieng traveled to Nimzatt, Mauritania, for a pilgrimage to his marabout, Cheikhna Sadibou. It was a spiritual journey he usually made with his family, without ever encountering any problems. This time, his eldest son, recently entering the workforce, had insisted on driving. "Like a good son, he wanted to take over the family business," the father recalls. The vehicle carried his entire life: four children, two boys and two girls, full of plans and hope. Then, everything changed.
The fatal moment and the illusion of hope
El Hadji Dieng was asleep when his eldest son suddenly cried out in surprise. Almost simultaneously, the car door flew open and the father was thrown out. The other occupants crashed violently into a baobab tree. The impact was devastating; the vehicle was completely destroyed. Ironically, just moments before, the father had hesitated to fasten his seatbelt. "It wouldn't fasten. I even told my son I would travel without it." This oversight would ultimately save his life.
He wakes up in the Thiès regional hospital, weak. "I asked for a drink, but they refused." Pain is everywhere around him. He sees two of his children, injured but alive. He reassures himself, thinking the other two are less seriously hurt: "Usually, they take care of those who are suffering the most first." He calls his eldest son; his voice is weak. Then he calls Mami, an English teacher in Noto Diobass; she answers. He breathes a sigh of relief. Then he asks about the other two. The answer comes, brutal: they did not survive. At the same moment, his daughter, whom he saw tending to an injured man, also dies. "You're the only one left, Dad," his youngest child whispers to him before passing away.
Anger over medical care
While he accepts his divine trial, El Hadji Amath Dieng cannot remain silent about the system's failings. "In our hospitals, accident victims are left to die in agony. Money is prioritized above all else. Prescriptions, tests, payments... As long as you don't pay, you're abandoned. Yet, accident victims are often alone."
To be evacuated to Dakar, his family had to rent a fully equipped ambulance from Saly for 200,000 CFA francs. He describes a harrowing journey in an unsuitable vehicle. After a difficult stay at Le Dantec Hospital, he was finally transferred to the Main Hospital. While he praised the doctors' compassion, he nevertheless lamented a lack of coordination: repeated prescriptions and unnecessary additional expenses.
The weight of grief and spiritual support
During his convalescence, emotional pain overshadowed physical suffering. “The loss of my children haunted me. I cried at night.” Spiritual support, particularly from Oustaz Mor Thiam, helped him keep from falling apart. Upon his release, the visit to the cemetery was an unspeakable ordeal. He recited their names: the eldest, an employee at the BCEAO; Fanta Dième, an English teacher; Amsatou Achoura, a student at Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc; and Chérif, about to enter the workforce. “Children in the prime of their lives. And me, old, I’m still alive…”
A plea for humanity
Later operated on at the Idrissa Pouye Hospital in Grand-Yoff, he still bears the physical and emotional scars of the tragedy. His message is a plea: guarantee access to primary care regardless of financial means, strengthen medical coordination, and humanize the patient-caregiver relationship. "A kind word can save a life. A doctor must have a big heart."
Read the first part at this link
Read the second part at this link
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