Betty Crystal Ofori-Atta was born December 4, 1997 in Accra, Ghana at Midway Clinic, Achimota. She met her untimely death on November 5, 2007, two days after a fatal car accident.

She was crossing the road from a school camp at Shai Hills near Akosombo. The trip was organized by the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts of her school, Christ the King International. She was in class five.

The tragedy started on Saturday, November 3, 2007. Betty spoke to her mother around 12:30 p.m., by telephone. She told her mother about all the badges she won while on the field trip. She couldn't wait to get home and put them on her Girl Guides uniform.

One hour later, her mother received a phone call from the Girl Guides adult leader at the campsite. She was informed that her daughter had been struck down by a car. They told her that she would be taken to the nearest hospital which was Tema General Hospital. Betty's parents met them at the hospital. They spent about an hour at Tema General Hospital, only to be told that the hospital didn't have a CT scan. So they had to transport her to a hospital in Accra by an ambulance which is about 18 miles away.

Betty was taken to Medlab Hospital in Accra. On arrival, they found out that the hospital was closed on weekends. She was then taken to 37 Military Hospital. There, they were told the CT scans and life support machines were not working. Therefore, they had to transport Betty to yet another hospital. This time they went to Korle-bu Hospital. They arrived around 5 p.m., which is about 3 hours after the accident. To make grave matters even worse, at Korle-bu, they were told that the hospital wasn't allowing any more patients because the hospital had too many patients. After pleading for about 30 minutes, they admitted Betty. Regrettably, despite being admitted, Betty could not receive proper medical care. The support that she desperately needed was not available. The CT scan and one life support machine were available. But as incredible as it may seem, the person who is trained to operate the life support machine, was not available because he does not work on weekends.

Around 8 p.m., about 7 hours after the accident, they finally performed a CT scan. They found out that Betty had too much blood in her brain. One doctor decided to operate on her to drain the blood out even though she was unconscious. Another doctor suggested that what Betty really needed was a life support machine to keep her breathing and stabilized before any surgery can be performed.

In the end, the doctors decided to operate. They operated on her and by the morning of November 5, Betty was struggling to breathe. Even more difficult to accept is the fact that despite all that this child and family endured, the doctors were unavailable in the morning. Furthermore, she still did not have the use of the life support machine.

Betty died around 10 p.m. on Monday, November 5, 2007. Her death is due largely to the absence of proper medical care and the unavailability of life saving machinery and technicians who are trained to operate them.

Betty is survived by her mother Angela, father William, brother Raphael, sisters Wilma, Angel, and Marigold, uncles, aunts, grandparents, other family members and many friends.

We love you, we miss you and our lives will never be the same again.