A retired U.S. Army officer, Harold Eugene Amboree, has been hospitalised in Ghana for five years, living on the generosity of strangers after the U.S. Embassy refused to cover his medical expenses. According to Amboree, the embassy won’t pay because his stay in the country was not officially authorized by the U.S. government.
This decision has put the hospital in a difficult position. They can’t afford to continue his life-sustaining treatment but fear he will die if he’s discharged.
In an interview, Amboree shared that he has no children, no relatives, and has been relying on the kindness of Ghanaians since he arrived. He said people are often shocked when he tells them he has no family to depend on in an emergency.
Amboree said he used to live on his social security, but those payments have since been blocked. “My grandfather is dead. My grandmother is also dead. All the hierarchy of my family are dead, and basically, I am on my own,” he stated. “I have no idea where the rest of my family members are. People get surprised when I answer this question.”
He denied any suggestion that he was hiding information that could help locate his family to assist with his medical bills, stating, “I am not playing any games with anyone.”
Amboree, who retired honourably from the U.S. Army, said he came to Ghana five years ago and fell in love with the country. “The moment I got to Ghana, I realized this was a place I wanted to be,” he said. “I survived here through a lot of patience and tolerance.”
For the five years he’s been in Ghana, he hasn’t been able to establish a business or a stable source of income. When asked how he survives, he was evasive, simply saying that his survival has been through the help of others. “I ask myself the same question as to how I survive. I wish I could tell you, but I think it’s a challenge, and yet, I am still living and still here,” he added.
Amboree stated he didn’t inform U.S. authorities that he was moving to Ghana because no law required him to do so since he had retired from the army.
The retired U.S. Army officer is currently a patient at Bloom Medical Centre in Ghana. However, the American Embassy has refused to pay his medical bills, stating that his presence in the country was unauthorised.
Dr. Laurentiu Eugen Ilie, the Country Director for Bloom Medical Centre, shared that the hospital had notified the embassy about the veteran’s condition. Embassy officials then visited the hospital, collected information, and had hospital management sign several documents. Despite this, the embassy has since declined to accept financial responsibility for his medical costs.
Dr. Eugen Ilie stressed that discharging the patient at this time would be a death sentence, a situation the hospital wants to prevent.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana