11/11/2025
FOR THOSE WHO NEVER KNEW HIM,
SO THAT HE IS NEVER FORGOTTEN!
Dr. BEN FAYÇAL
Nov. 4, 2014 – Nov. 4, 2025
Today marks 11 years since the passing of Dr. Ben Fayçal. For those who never knew him or may have forgotten, (re)read his story:
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THE UNSUNG HEROES OF HEALTH: THE TRAGIC STORY OF Dr. BEN FAYÇAL
Dr. Fayçal was one of those young doctors who fell into the medical profession like an ant into a pot of honey — completely immersed!
Originally from Makabaye, in the Far North of Cameroon, he was born in 1986, entered the Faculty of Medicine in Yaoundé in 2005, and graduated seven years later (2012) with a Doctorate in Medicine with honors.
He was immediately assigned to a hospital in the Grand North as additional staff. A few months later, he was appointed Director of the District Hospital of Poli, in the North Region, a hospital that had been abandoned for years by its former head.
Upon arrival, he found a depleted and lifeless hospital, where there were more goats wandering in the courtyard than patients. The pharmacy shelves were almost empty, hospital beds had no mattresses, and the ambulance had been broken down for two years with four flat tires. The few nurses present were more farmers and herders than health workers.
Faced with this desperate situation — where others would have fled or requested a transfer — Dr. Fayçal decided to take the bull by the horns.
At the same time, he learned that his first salary and arrears were available in Yaoundé. Instead of waiting for the government’s operating funds, which could take months, he used all his salary and arrears to revive the hospital.
With that money, he:
Repaired the hospital ambulance
Restocked the pharmacy with essential drugs, including antivenoms for snake bites common in the area
Purchased mattresses and basic medical supplies
Bought a generator for electricity
Organized free medical campaigns and open-door days to encourage people to return to the hospital
Conducted training sessions to retrain hospital staff and improve their efficiency
After these efforts, the hospital came back to life — patients began returning, and Dr. Fayçal worked tirelessly to treat them.
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A Tragic Night — November 3rd, 2014
One night, after performing five surgeries (three cesarean sections and two hernia repairs), Dr. Fayçal finally decided to rest around 1 a.m.
Barely ten minutes later, he was urgently called back — another emergency cesarean for a 17-year-old girl named Ramatou, referred from a nearby health center. The young girl and her mother had no money. Dr. Fayçal decided to operate on credit, hoping her family might pay later.
The surgery went well, and both mother and baby were safe. Exhausted, he finally went to rest, planning to start a door-to-door vaccination campaign the next morning for unvaccinated children.
Thirty minutes later, he was suddenly awakened by a sharp pain in his shoulder. When he turned on the light, he realized he had been bitten by a snake.
Courageously, he grabbed a stick to kill and identify it — it was a cobra. Despite the danger, he managed to kill it.
He rushed to the pharmacy for an antivenom, but found none suitable for a cobra bite. Cobras were extremely rare in the region — many had never even seen one before.
He informed his family and colleagues, reassuring everyone with calm humor: “It’s going to be fine.”
He then called the ambulance driver and a nurse to take him to the Regional Hospital of Garoua, 140 km away — a five-hour journey on poor roads.
Before leaving, as if sensing his fate, he made one last quick hospital round, giving instructions to nurses for patients’ care.
On the way, he remained conscious for most of the trip. But 40 km from Garoua, his condition worsened — he began convulsing, foaming at the mouth, and stiffening.
His last words to the nurse beside him were:
> “Don’t forget to collect the drugs for Ramatou and dress her wound properly. Her family can pay later.”
Moments later, he suffered more convulsions and gasps, and died just at the entrance to Garoua, powerless in the hands of his companions.
It was later discovered that none of the health facilities in Garoua, not even the Pasteur Center or local pharmacies, had the right antivenom for cobra bites.
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11 Years Later… What Has Changed, Ministry of Health?
(Originally published by Dr. Roger Etoa —
