Every morning, 27-year-old Christopher Geria Harry depends on his mother and younger sister to lift him from his bed into a wheelchair before he can begin repairing mobile phones by the roadside in Arua City.
It is a routine that has defined his life for the past seven years after a devastating road crash left him paralysed while working as a foreman for Waves Construction Company Limited in Yumbe District.Once the family’s breadwinner with dreams of furthering his education, Geria now survives on the goodwill of relatives and well-wishers as he struggles with constant pain, disability and the financial burden of ongoing medical care.
The accident occurred on the evening of July 19, 2019, along the Ombeci–Ariwa road while Geria and five other workers were transporting construction materials between company project sites in refugee-hosting areas of Yumbe District.Four of the six occupants sustained serious injuries, but Geria suffered the most severe, sustaining traumatic spinal injuries that left him paralysed.
Medical records seen by Uganda Radio Network show he was first admitted to Arua Regional Referral Hospital before being referred to Mulago National Referral Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a traumatic cervical spine injury. He was discharged in a wheelchair after weeks of treatment.
Since then, Geria has been unable to stand or walk without assistance. Medical reports indicate that the injuries affected both his upper and lower limbs, leaving him permanently dependent on a wheelchair. “I had dreams of continuing my education and building a better future, but everything changed after the accident,” Geria told Uganda Radio Network.
He is now appealing for assistance to access specialised medical treatment, including surgery and physiotherapy, in the hope of regaining some mobility. He is also seeking financial support to establish a business that can sustain him and his family.Before the accident, Geria had worked for nearly two years with Waves Construction Company Limited and used his earnings to support his siblings’ education, medical care and other household needs.
His mother, Beatrice Anguwesa, said the family sold livestock and other valuable property to meet medical bills, transport costs and diagnostic tests during his treatment in Arua and Kampala.”My only appeal is for support for his treatment, feeding and a business for him. Everything we had has been exhausted trying to save his life,” she said. Unable to afford transport to Kampala, the family missed several follow-up appointments that doctors had recommended after his discharge from Mulago.
They believe this contributed to the deterioration of his condition.Despite the challenges, Geria enrolled in a mobile phone repair course through a programme run by CEFORD. The skill has become his only source of income, although he still requires assistance every day to get to his workstation. His younger sister also dropped out of school to help care for him.One of the directors of Waves Construction Company Limited, Adomati Hillay, acknowledged the family’s continued struggles.
He said the company initially contributed towards Geria’s medical treatment and transport and also linked the family to the owner of the vehicle involved in the crash to help meet additional medical expenses.Hillay attributed the accident to the driver of the hired pickup truck, alleging that he allowed his turnboy to take control of the vehicle, which was reportedly speeding at the time of the crash.
A search by Uganda Radio Network on the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) portal found that Waves Construction Company Limited has since been struck off the register over compliance-related issues. According to Geria and his family, communication with the company’s management ceased after its operations wound up, leaving them to shoulder the burden of his care alone.
Today, Geria lives with his mother and sister at the home of a well-wisher in Ayivu West Division, Arua City. Although he has found a way to earn a modest income repairing mobile phones, he continues to live with chronic pain and requires specialised treatment, physiotherapy and regular medical reviews. His family is appealing to well-wishers and relevant authorities for support to access medical care and rebuild his livelihood. URN