Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of her 21-month old son, alleging that medical negligence during a hospital procedure directly led to his passing.
In a detailed personal account confirmed by her media team to Arise TV, the acclaimed Nigerian author said her son, Nkanu Nnamdi, would still be alive if basic medical protocols had been followed.
According to Adichie, the tragedy unfolded on January 6 while her family was in Lagos for the Christmas holidays. Nkanu had developed what initially appeared to be a cold, which later progressed into a serious infection.
He was admitted to Atlantis Hospital, where doctors arranged an emergency medical evacuation to the United States the following day.
A medical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore was already on standby and requested specific procedures — including an MRI scan, a lumbar puncture, and the placement of a central line — ahead of the flight.
To complete those procedures, the family was referred to Euracare Hospital in Lagos. Adichie said her son was sedated so the MRI and central line insertion could be performed safely.
While waiting outside the operating room, she noticed medical staff suddenly rushing in, including a senior doctor — a moment she said immediately signaled that something had gone wrong.
She was later told that the anesthesiologist had administered an excessive dose of propofol. Nkanu became unresponsive and had to be resuscitated. He was intubated, placed on a ventilator, and transferred to intensive care. Adichie said seizures and cardiac arrest followed — conditions her son had never experienced before — and he died several hours later.
“How can you sedate a sick child and neglect to monitor him?” Adichie asked in her account, calling the actions “criminally negligent” and a clear breach of medical standards.
“We brought in a child who was unwell but stable and scheduled to travel the next day,” she wrote. “We came to conduct basic procedures. And suddenly, our beautiful little boy was gone forever.”
She further alleged that her son was not properly monitored after sedation and that oxygen was switched off following the procedure while he was being moved to the ICU.
Adichie also claimed the hospital had prior knowledge of at least two previous cases involving alleged anesthetic overdoses by the same practitioner and questioned why he was still allowed to practice. “This must never happen to another child,” she said.
Nkanu Nnamdi was one of Adichie’s twin sons, born via surrogate in 2024. Adichie shares her children with her husband, Dr. Ivara Esege. The family had previously announced his death following a brief illness and requested privacy while grieving.