How medical negligence killed my son in Lagos hospital – Chimamanda Adichie

Renowned writer Chimamanda Adichie has accused a Lagos hospital of medical negligence over the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi.

The novelist’s son died on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, after a brief illness.

In a statement on Saturday posted on social media, Adichie said her son was taken to Euracare Hospital for an MRI scan and the insertion of a central line. He was sedated for the procedures but, according to her, was not properly monitored after being given propofol, which led to complications including loss of responsiveness, seizures and eventual cardiac arrest.

She said her son “would be alive today if not for an incident at Euracare Hospital on January 6th,” where he had gone for the procedures.

Adichie explained that the family had travelled to Lagos for Christmas when her son fell ill with what they initially thought was a cold, but which later “turned into a very serious infection.”

“We were in Lagos for Christmas. Nkanu had what we first thought was just a cold, but soon turned into a very serious infection, and he was admitted to Atlantis Hospital.

“He was to travel to the US the next day, January 7th, accompanied by travelling doctors. A team at Johns Hopkins was waiting to receive him in Baltimore. The Hopkins team had asked for a lumbar puncture test and an MRI,” she said.

Adichie noted that Atlantis Hospital referred them to Euracare, “which was said to be the best place to have the procedures done.”

“The Nigerian team had also decided to put in a ‘central line’ (used to administer IV medications) in preparation for Nkanu’s flight. The morning of the 6th, we left Atlantis Hospital for Euracare, Nkanu carried in his father’s arms.

“We were told he would need to be sedated to prevent him from moving during the MRI and the ‘central line’ procedure. I was waiting just outside the theatre. I saw people, including Dr M, rushing into the theatre and immediately knew something had happened,” she stated.

According to Adichie, she was later informed that the anesthesiologist had given her son an excessive dose of propofol.

“A short time later, Dr M came out and told me Nkanu had been given too much propofol by the anesthesiologist, had become unresponsive and was quickly resuscitated,” she said.

She added that her son was placed on a ventilator, intubated and taken to the intensive care unit, where his condition deteriorated.

“But suddenly, Nkanu was on a ventilator; he was intubated and placed in the ICU. The next thing I heard was that he had seizures. Cardiac arrest. All these had never happened before. Some hours later, Nkanu was gone,” she said.

Adichie further alleged that her son was not monitored after sedation and described the anesthesiologist’s conduct as criminally negligent.

“It turns out that Nkanu was never monitored after being given too much propofol. The anesthesiologist had just casually carried Nkanu on his shoulder to the theatre, so nobody knows when exactly Nkanu became unresponsive.

“How can you sedate a sick child and neglect to monitor him? Later, after the ‘central line’ procedure, the anesthesiologist casually switched off Nkanu’s oxygen and again decided to carry him on his shoulder to the ICU!

“The anesthesiologist was CRIMINALLY negligent. He was fatally casual and careless with the precious life of a child. No proper protocol was followed.”

She said the family had brought in “a child who was unwell but stable and scheduled to travel the next day” for what she described as routine procedures, but lost him unexpectedly.

“And suddenly, our beautiful little boy was gone forever. It is like living your worst nightmare. I will never survive the loss of my child,” she said.

Adichie also alleged that the family later learned of similar incidents involving the same anesthesiologist.

“We have now heard about two previous cases of this same anesthesiologist overdosing children. Why did Euracare allow him to keep working?” she asked, adding, “This must never happen to another child.”

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