Gabby celebrates NPP footsoldier who lost his foot during election petition

I want to send out a special Father’s Day message to a man I have so much respect and admiration for because of his courage, endurance, perseverance, loyalty and faith. Daniel Lomotey is the ultimate unsung footsoldier hero of the NPP.

He was the dedicated driver of Akwasi Agyemang, now CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority. It was shortly after the controversial 2012 general elections. Nana Akufo-Addo, supported by Dr Bawumia, Ken Ofori-Atta, Auntie Frema, Gloria Akuffo and others, had assembled a dedicated team at the Nima home of the Akufo-Addos, who were working 24-7, to collate and analyze over 23,000 pink sheets (the presidential election results declaration forms) in preparation for that historic election petition.

Daniel was right there with the team.

He used to ran errands and usually got home after midnight. On one such late night, his last errand was to buy hot kenkey from Osu for the working team. He got back, bid good night, got on his bike to ride home. The next morning we got the terrible news that he had been involved in a horrific accident at Weija.

A truck knocked him down, dragged him and his bike and drove over him. He was in very bad shape; hospitalized for months. His partner was pregnant at the time. To save him, his right leg was amputated. You can imagine what he had to go through. His legs were critical to him earning and living.

Driving was his job. Stuck on his hospital bed with a young nursing mother and a baby to support; after all that, with only one leg to stand on even after recovery. This foot soldier who lost his foot needed his feet to feed him.

The future indeed looked bleak and in fact was bleak. However, just last year, he managed to raise enough money to go for the best leg replacement money can buy and the good news is that the operation was very successful.

This weekend, he drove to my house to see me. Yes! Dan drove! Dan is back! He’s got his legs back. He’s back behind the steering wheel. He can feel once again the throttle. He’s back in business, revving onto new heights. Not, only that. He came home to give me an invitation card to his wedding to the very woman he was with when the tragedy hit their home five years ago.

He is happy and ready to face the world; with a renewed sense of purpose, a new lease of life, newly minted keys of hope, to open doors of opportunities he thought had disappeared with his leg. Now, he can once again walk through his dreams to where his drive will take him. I remember visiting him at Korle Bu, in bed, with what remained of his amputated leg in a bandage.

What struck me then was the sheer size of his naked courage; the courage with which he accepted his fate. Refusing to fall into the abyss of despair and hopelessness.

He saw my salty cheek as I stood quietly by his bed and he said, “Boss, I will be fine.” Yes. He had more faith in himself and his world than I could at the time see. Daniel is fine. He will be fine. All is fine. The foot soldier who lost his foot is back on his feet again. Enjoy your Sunday.