Regaining his independence: the long road travelled by Cyril, injured in an accident

Becoming tetraplegic following an accident

My name is Cyril Avohou, I live in Abomey-Calavi in the south of Benin and I'm in my sixties. In 2019, I had been working for a year in a company with which I was about to sign a permanent contract when I had my accident.

"I was on my way home from work. The road was being worked on and piles of sand had been deposited on the lane. I was less than two kilometres from home when a lorry passed me, kicking up a lot of dust. I couldn't see anything and tried to pull over until the dust settled, but I hit a sand dune and fell. There were no injuries, no broken bones, nothing, but I couldn't get up.”

After a few minutes, I fell into a coma. When I woke up, I was at the Centre National Hospitalier Universitaire de Cotonou (National University Hospital Centre), where I stayed for 4 months. I was operated on twice; the doctors told me I had a broken nerve and that was why I couldn't feel my limbs. After a few months, they sent me home. I had become tetraplegic, I had lost my job and I no longer had any financial resources.

Access to essential physiotherapy services: a real challenge

Through my godfather and my godson, I came to know the Guichet Unique de Protection Sociale (GUPS) in Calavi, a decentralised structure of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance which houses a community-based rehabilitation contact centre and which is a partner of HI. Thanks to their support, I had around twenty rehabilitation sessions there, paid for by HI.

There aren't many rehabilitation centres in Benin and the one in Calavi is about forty minutes' drive from my home. On my own, I would never have been able to get there, as I didn't have the financial means to pay XOF 1,500 (around €2.3) each way by taxi. Fortunately, my godfather helped me. He used to pick me up in the morning at 7am in his car; counting the distance, the traffic and the time of the session, we didn't get back until 10.30-11am.

"The physiotherapy sessions really helped me, even though it wasn't easy at first. I couldn't move my right leg, whereas now I can lift it; I couldn't turn around, whereas now, if I'm in a good bed, I can. I can also lift my right arm and, above all, I can talk. Without this treatment, none of this would have been possible.”

But day-to-day life remains complicated: we tried to make my fingers more flexible, but it wasn't enough and they're still very painful. I depend a lot on my family for everything: getting up, washing, going to the toilet, etc. My wife helps me a lot, as do my daughters who live with us and my son when he's visiting. Our twin daughters are 26; one is a student and the other is a dressmaker's apprentice. My third daughter is still at secondary school. As for my son, he went to university but had to stop after my accident because I could no longer afford to pay for his schooling.

Continuing to gain autonomy

My wife does everything for me, she fights alone but doesn't have the means to meet the needs of the children and mine with her job alone. She's my main caregiver and it's not always easy for her. That's also why I want to continue my rehabilitation sessions. I don't like staying put, I'm always stressed here because I don't like being looked after. Even if it hurts, I want to continue the exercises until I'm free and independent.

"Thanks to HI, I've been given a wheelchair which makes it easier to move around the house and which I can use to go out and spend time in the yard, chatting to the neighbours or my godfather. But I need help to move forward because I can't use my fingers or wrists."

Prunelle Togni, physiotherapist and rehabilitation officer for HI, visits me regularly to check on my progress. She advises me and explains the steps involved in my rehabilitation programme. She and the technical manager of the GUPS in Abomey-Calavi have also provided me and my wife with much-needed psychosocial support to help us overcome the difficulties we have encountered.

"Cyril will resume his physiotherapy sessions," concludes Prunelle Togni. "The main aim is to improve his independence on a day-to-day basis, so that he can get out of bed and into a wheelchair on his own. Only then can we envisage the next stage, which will be gradually learning to walk again.”