THE STORY OF LATE DR. STELLA, ONE LIFE TO SAVE A NATION

In life one wouldn’t know the price to pay, or even if one did, you can’t think about what price is right. The story of Dr. Stella Ameyo draws a wider range of dedication and service, by paying the right price; she prevented a serious outbreak in a country like Nigeria. But…in the course of duty she lost her life and several others too. She is one who had stood for what is right, even in the most difficult times. What price could be right? Let’s find out.

Late Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh was a physician, lead consultant and endocrinologist at First consultant Hospital in Nigeria where she worked for 21 years. Ameyo born on the 27th of October 1956, in the city of Lagos, Nigeria to Babatunde Kwaku (deceased) of the Adadevoh.Her paternal great grandfather, Herbert Samuel Macaulay, was a prominent politician and is considered to be the founding father of Nigeria Nationalism. He established the first political party and his portrait is on Nigeria’s N1 (One naira) coin.
Her maternal great- uncle was Dr. Namdi Azikiwe, the first president of Nigeria, a respected modern Nationalist, and one of the most revered politicians in Nigerian history. Her father, Babatunde Kwaku Adadevoh was a renowned Physician, distinguished scientist, lecturer, author and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. He served as a Consultant and advisor to numerous International Organizations, such as the World Health Organization and several others.
Ameyo being the first of four children started her academic career in the year 1961 at the Mainland Preparatory primary school in Yaba, Lagos state. In 1962 her parents temporarily relocated to Boston Massachusetts in United States of America. Two years on, the family decided to relocate back to Nigeria, where she continued her education at the Corona school Yaba in Lagos, Nigeria, until 1968 and then began secondary school at Queens School Ibadan, Nigeria where she finished in 1974 with a distinction of honor’s in West Africa Examination Council WAEC, EXAMS.
In 1980 at the age of 24, Ameyo qualified as a medical Doctor with a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery MBBS, from the University Of Lagos, College Of Medicine. Upon graduation she finished a one year mandatory houseman ship at Lagos University Teaching Hospital and subsequently completed her National Youth Service Corps.
Her professional career began with a residency at LUTH from 1983 to 1988 after which she earned the West Africans College of Physicians and Surgeons Credentials. She later got married to Afolabi Emmanuel Cardoso on the26th of April 1986 and their union was blessed with a son, Bankole Cardoso. Ameyo worked as a consultant at LUTH until 1991 when she earned a British Council Scholarship to continue her education abroad from the year 1991 to 1993, she completed her fellowship in endocrinology at Hammersmith Hospital of the Imperial College in London, UK.
Upon completion of her education, she worked for more than two decades doing what she loved best- healing the sick. She joined the first consultant Medical Centre in Obalende Lagos, Nigeria where she worked for 21 years and became the Lead Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist.
During the outbreak of Ebola in July 2014, she tried her efforts to tackle this worrisome illness that got into the country through Patrick Sawyer, an American Liberian. Though threatened by the Liberian officials to release Sawyer, so he could attend a Conference, she refused and insisted that he got treated so as to prevent millions of Nigerians from contracting this bad illness. Her heroic efforts prevented a major outbreak in the most populous African country and served as the catalyst for successful government action to contain the spread of what would have been a major outbreak in a country of more than 190 million people.

As a result of her keen perception, courage and steadfastness, all 20 Ebola cases in Nigeria were traced to a single path of transmission originating with the first (index) patient who took a flight from Monrovia, Liberia to Lagos. The World Health Organization declared Nigeria Ebola free on The 20th of October 2014.
She was also a member of Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, Medical Women Association of Nigeria MWAN, British-Nigeria Association and National Postgraduate Medical College. She served as a non-executive director of Learn Africa PLC and a writer for the first-ever ‘’Ask the Doc’’ column in Today’s Women Magazine among other accomplishments.
Though having to tackle Ebola, I always say outbreaks bring heartbreaks, she and three of her colleagues died of the illness on the 19th of August 2014. She has shown what it means to serve the people and her heroic acts will always live on.