I was the last survivor to leave Mulago
Jul 03, 2011
ON July 11, 2010, al-Shaabab, a terrorist group based in Somalia, launched two heinous bomb attacks on innocent Ugandans at Kyadondo Rugby club and the Ethiopian village in Kabalagala, that left 79 people dead and several injured. New Vision is remembering the innocent Ugandans who perished in the t
ON July 11, 2010, al-Shaabab, a terrorist group based in Somalia, launched two heinous bomb attacks on innocent Ugandans at Kyadondo Rugby club and the Ethiopian village in Kabalagala, that left 79 people dead and several injured. New Vision is remembering the innocent Ugandans who perished in the tragedy. Joyce Nyakato talked to Hadad Osman, a survivor.
Not only did the bomb fiasco leave him injured, he also lost his dear friend.
A year later, 26-year-old Hadad Osman, a survivor of the grisly July 11, 2010 bombings that killed 79 people in Kampala, grieves the loss of his best friend and boss, Amando Mathius.
A teacher at Mata Secondary School in Mukono district, Osman said they had planned to watch the World Cup soccer final at Nakivubo Stadium when a friend who works with Silk Events Bugolobi, called and offered them five complementary tickets for the Kyadondo Rugby Club venue.
“Because the place was much nearer, we decided to go back home to buy more time,†he recalls.
He said he gave his cousin two tickets and another to a friend in Mukono.
Fortunately, the cousin did not go with them because his phone was off at the time of their departure.
Osman recalls that even on their way, they contemplated going to Nakivubo, but eventually settled for Kyadondo Rugby Club.
“But in the 82nd minute of the game, I felt something hit my tummy,†says Osman.
“I didn’t feel any pain, but when I turned to my friend, to ask him what was happening, he fell off the chair to the ground. When I bent down to check on him, he tried to speak but breathed his last. I turned him over but he had no single stain of blood on his body,†says Osman.
Osman did not hear the first blast. He thought the melee around was just because the football fans were excited and departing since the match was coming to the end.
Then the second blast went off. That was when he realised that there was trouble.
“Since I was down, I saw people dead or dying. Where I was seated, everybody died. Then I realised I was injured. I was bleeding profusely. My intestine was oozing out. I removed my shirt and tied it around my abdomen to keep the internal organs.
“Today, thinking of how a person like me with all the intestines out survived is heartening. I remember someone’s head from nowhere hit my right leg,†Osman says with a hint of chagrin in his voice.
He recalls three siblings who were seated in front of him, all perished. Amidst the helter-skelter, he could see people search the pockets of the deceased for valuables.
Drenched in blood and surrounded by dead bodies, he took a very big effort in raising his hand. After consistently, raising his hand, he was identified and rolled on a Police ambulance to Mulago Hospital.
The two minute journey from the ground to the ambulance was a shattering sight: many sobbed the loss of those they had come with.
Even with the strength mopped out of him, he could hear everything.
In the ambulance, he heard some survivors breathe their last before they even made it to the hospital. When he reached the hospital, he was wheeled into surgery.
Two days after surgery, his condition worsened and was put on life support (oxygen). Mulago was his home for three months.
In fact, he says he was the last survivor to be discharged from Mulago.
However, he still continued wearing colostomy (an opening that provides an alternative channel for waste to leave the body) for two months after discharge.
His intestines needed to ‘rest’ until they healed. In March this year, he had to undergo another operation to close the colostomy opening.
Even after a year, it is still a long walk to full recovery. He can’t stand or walk for long.
With psychological help in the hospital, he was able to cope with the trauma. Like a reel of video tape, the thoughts of the tragic day often come to him. “Whenever I recall the incident, the smell of the bomb comes back. I get a headache frequently,†he says.
When on his bed at night trying to gather some sleep, he remembers the bodies of people among which he lay as he awaited for help. He also remembers the cries of those who were holding for dear life.
Because of these, Osman says he has decided not to go to crowded places as they tend to bring back the memories of that ill-fated day.
Osman is grateful that his employers at Mata Secondary School were very supportive and have retained him on the job.
He has now decided to devote all his efforts to work and support his two children, a boy and a girl, aged five and three. He is uncomfortable talking about the mother of the children.
Not only did the bomb fiasco leave him injured, he also lost his dear friend.
A year later, 26-year-old Hadad Osman, a survivor of the grisly July 11, 2010 bombings that killed 79 people in Kampala, grieves the loss of his best friend and boss, Amando Mathius.
A teacher at Mata Secondary School in Mukono district, Osman said they had planned to watch the World Cup soccer final at Nakivubo Stadium when a friend who works with Silk Events Bugolobi, called and offered them five complementary tickets for the Kyadondo Rugby Club venue.
“Because the place was much nearer, we decided to go back home to buy more time,†he recalls.
He said he gave his cousin two tickets and another to a friend in Mukono.
Fortunately, the cousin did not go with them because his phone was off at the time of their departure.
Osman recalls that even on their way, they contemplated going to Nakivubo, but eventually settled for Kyadondo Rugby Club.
“But in the 82nd minute of the game, I felt something hit my tummy,†says Osman.
“I didn’t feel any pain, but when I turned to my friend, to ask him what was happening, he fell off the chair to the ground. When I bent down to check on him, he tried to speak but breathed his last. I turned him over but he had no single stain of blood on his body,†says Osman.
Osman did not hear the first blast. He thought the melee around was just because the football fans were excited and departing since the match was coming to the end.
Then the second blast went off. That was when he realised that there was trouble.
“Since I was down, I saw people dead or dying. Where I was seated, everybody died. Then I realised I was injured. I was bleeding profusely. My intestine was oozing out. I removed my shirt and tied it around my abdomen to keep the internal organs.
“Today, thinking of how a person like me with all the intestines out survived is heartening. I remember someone’s head from nowhere hit my right leg,†Osman says with a hint of chagrin in his voice.
He recalls three siblings who were seated in front of him, all perished. Amidst the helter-skelter, he could see people search the pockets of the deceased for valuables.
Drenched in blood and surrounded by dead bodies, he took a very big effort in raising his hand. After consistently, raising his hand, he was identified and rolled on a Police ambulance to Mulago Hospital.
The two minute journey from the ground to the ambulance was a shattering sight: many sobbed the loss of those they had come with.
Even with the strength mopped out of him, he could hear everything.
In the ambulance, he heard some survivors breathe their last before they even made it to the hospital. When he reached the hospital, he was wheeled into surgery.
Two days after surgery, his condition worsened and was put on life support (oxygen). Mulago was his home for three months.
In fact, he says he was the last survivor to be discharged from Mulago.
However, he still continued wearing colostomy (an opening that provides an alternative channel for waste to leave the body) for two months after discharge.
His intestines needed to ‘rest’ until they healed. In March this year, he had to undergo another operation to close the colostomy opening.
Even after a year, it is still a long walk to full recovery. He can’t stand or walk for long.
With psychological help in the hospital, he was able to cope with the trauma. Like a reel of video tape, the thoughts of the tragic day often come to him. “Whenever I recall the incident, the smell of the bomb comes back. I get a headache frequently,†he says.
When on his bed at night trying to gather some sleep, he remembers the bodies of people among which he lay as he awaited for help. He also remembers the cries of those who were holding for dear life.
Because of these, Osman says he has decided not to go to crowded places as they tend to bring back the memories of that ill-fated day.
Osman is grateful that his employers at Mata Secondary School were very supportive and have retained him on the job.
He has now decided to devote all his efforts to work and support his two children, a boy and a girl, aged five and three. He is uncomfortable talking about the mother of the children.