A wave of grief has swept through Ghana’s legal community following the sudden death of a young lawyer, Sarah Araba Tettey, who reportedly collapsed while celebrating Ghana’s victory over Panama at the FIFA World Cup.
Tettey, 26, was said to have been watching the match with friends at a hostel near the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi on Wednesday when the incident occurred.
Witnesses said jubilation had erupted after the final whistle confirmed Ghana’s win before she suddenly became unresponsive.
According to reports, friends rushed her to KNUST Hospital, popularly known as Tech Hospital, where medical personnel fought to save her life. Medical responders reportedly performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for about 45 minutes, but efforts to revive her were unsuccessful. She was later pronounced dead.
A newly qualified legal practitioner, Tettey had only recently been called to the Ghana Bar and was working with O & A Legal Consult. She was also an alumna of KNUST’s Faculty of Law and was widely regarded by colleagues and friends as a bright young professional with a promising future ahead.
News of her passing has sparked an outpouring of tributes across social media and within Ghana’s legal fraternity. Former classmates, colleagues and friends have remembered her as intelligent, hardworking and compassionate, expressing shock at the loss of a young woman whose legal career had only just begun.
Her death has cast a shadow over what had been a moment of national celebration as Ghanaians rejoiced over the Black Stars’ successful start to their World Cup campaign. Authorities are yet to release an official medical report detailing the exact cause of death.
Her remains have been deposited at the hospital mortuary pending further arrangements by her family.