February 19, (THEWILL) – Veteran Nigeria actor, Jerry Amilo, has recalled the fatal accident he had 24 years ago.
The actor recalled the incident, while granting an interview with BBC Igbo. According to him, he woke up after spending three days in the morgue.
He travelled to Ibadan, Oyo State for a business meeting with his brother. While he was returning to Lagos with his lawyer, Dilo, to attend a movie award, his front tire spun off the wheel. The car somersaulted 16 times and he lost consciousness.
A road user who witnessed the accident reported to the police and everyone in the car were confirmed dead.
“It’s a testimony. It’s true that I was no more and returned after three nights in the mortuary. I was involved in a terrible accident. We all died. That same day the accident happened was on 30th of May, 1998.”
“It was the day I won the ‘Best Action Actor’ category of an award on its debut. I had gone to see my brother in Ibadan for business. I was returning with my lawyer. I was driving when I suddenly saw my front tire ahead of me.”
“The front tire was removed. I turned to Dilo, my lawyer, to ask if he was seeing what I was seeing. I couldn’t finish the words. We all died. That was all I could remember. The vehicle somersaulted about 16 times, as I was later told.”
“From accounts, I was told that a trailer driver was returning to Lagos from an offload point in Ibadan. He was returning to Lagos when he witnessed the accident. He got to the tollgate to report to the police. It was 7pm.”
“The police got there and found us all dead. They took all our corpses to the police station. They took inventory. Those who resumed the next morning took us to the morgue where there hasn’t been a power supply for three weeks.”
“It was a hospital morgue for accident victims. Most bodies start decaying before they are claimed. Three days later, it seemed as if my body was twitching. The attendant had been with my body, it didn’t decay a bit.”
“The attendant raised the alarm. The morgue is far from the hospital main building. Those along the way broke up running in panic. Student doctors dismissed the ghost scare and entered the morgue.”
“They noticed that I was still alive and took me to the emergency section. Three days later, I reawakened. I woke up blind with my jaw broken in three places “
“You’d weep if you saw my face at that time. I was injured in the face. If you watch my movies then, you’d see them.”
“I couldn’t see with my eyes. My IPO was with me until the sixth day. He explained it to me. They saw my diary as I always kept one then. For four months, the world thought I was dead. I went through surgeries to restore my face.”
“The jaw broke into three. I couldn’t eat through my mouth for 14 months. I was taking liquid food through straw. My face was sewed so the bone could heal.”
