Ekiti State of Nigeria, was born, raised and trained in the UK, where
she graduated as one of the youngest medical doctors in England . She is
also a trainee helicopter pilot.
While she was studying to
become a doctor in the UK, her younger sister fell seriously ill while
traveling in Nigeria. The 12-year-old girl, who’d gone to the West
African country on holiday with relatives, needed urgent care, but the
nearest hospital couldn’t deal with her condition.
Orekunrin and
her family immediately began looking for an air ambulance service to
rapidly transport the girl, a sickle cell anemia sufferer, to a more
suitable healthcare facility. They searched all across West Africa but
were stunned to find out there were none in the whole region.
“The
nearest one at the time was in South Africa,” remembers Orekunrin.
“They had a 12-hour activation time so by the time they were ready to
activate, my sister was dead”.
“It was really a devastating time for
me and I started thinking about whether I should be in England talking
about healthcare in Africa, or I should be in Africa dealing with
healthcare and trying to do something about it.”
Orekunrin did
the latter. Motivated by the tragic death of her sister, the young
doctor decided to leave behind a high-flying job in the UK to take to
the Nigerian skies and address the vital issue of urgent healthcare in
Africa’s most populous country.
Determined to make a difference
in medical practice and health care delivery system in Nigeria,
Orekunrin decided to set up Lagos-based Flying Doctors Nigeria, the
first air ambulance service in West Africa, transporting victims of
medical emergencies, including industrial workers from the country’s
booming oil and gas sector. It basically provides critical care
transportation solutions to both the private and public sector by
selling yearly air ambulance cover plans to states, companies and
individuals.
Since then, she has successfully steered the company
upwards in achieving its corporate goals and ensuring sustained
growth.“Against all odds, I passed my A-Levels with flying colors,
started my degree at the University of York at 15. I supported myself
all through, working. I wrote my final medical examinations at 21, thus
emerging the youngest medical doctor in England,” said Ola Orekunrin.