Wounded Hearts

"Wounded Hearts: My Roller-Coaster Journey into Third-World Health Care" traces Patience Akinosho's journey through Nigeria's broken health care system after her annual trip to visit family was interrupted by the illness of her younger sister, Sally. The unexpected loss of this laughter-filled young woman with a disability, who died a senseless death at the hands of a poorly trained surgeon, inspired this narrative, which only hints at the inadequacy of a system designed to treat the nation's estimated 206 million people. This harrowing story gives a new generation of Nigerians and their leaders a glimpse of the problems they are faced with, so they can be inspired to affect change. From the birth of Patience's sister, God's grace upon her life, an unexpected pregnancy, and the miraculous birth of her only child; readers get a firsthand look into sisterly love and the pain of losing a loved one.

"Wounded Hearts: My Roller-Coaster Journey into Third-World Health Care" traces Patience Akinosho's journey through Nigeria's broken health care system after her annual trip to visit family was interrupted by the illness of her younger sister, Sally. The unexpected loss of this laughter-filled young woman with a disability, who died a senseless death at the hands of a poorly trained surgeon, inspired this narrative, which only hints at the inadequacy of a system designed to treat the nation's estimated 206 million people. This harrowing story gives a new generation of Nigerians and their leaders a glimpse of the problems they are faced with, so they can be inspired to affect change. From the birth of Patience's sister, God's grace upon her life, an unexpected pregnancy, and the miraculous birth of her only child; readers get a firsthand look into sisterly love and the pain of losing a loved one. The competing needs of doctors to either survive or care for their patients often leaves the citizens at a disadvantage, victims of a system that prioritizes greed— not health.

As a socio-medical researcher, Dr. Patience Akinosho shares her story from her experiences and encounters with some cogs of Africa's failing health care system. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Kean University and holds a Master of Science degree from Rutgers University School of Public Administration. She also received her master of public health in socio-medical sciences and her doctorate from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and was the recipient of a dissertation fellowship from the International Development Research Center in Canada. Her commitment to the causes of the forgotten, particularly women, children, and the elderly, has led her to initiate and direct several public health and microfinance initiatives in Nigeria, helping to raise the health and economic standards of disenfranchised populations. Guided by her Christian beliefs, Dr. Akinosho has helped many villages in Nigeria obtain health care by sponsoring and cosponsoring free mobile medical care services in collaboration with expatriates now living in the United States, local physicians, nurses, and pharmacists.