How Nigerian screenwriter almost lost her life weeks after childbirth

Nigerian on-air personality and screenwriter, Dami Elebe, has opened up about a terrifying near-death experience she endured just weeks after giving birth to her first child.

In a post on her birthday, Thursday, October 2, 2025, Elebe expressed gratitude to God for sparing her life and allowing her to celebrate another year.

“I’m I dying? That was the question I asked my husband and the ER staff just a few weeks after I had my baby. I was having a heart failure. My lungs were filled with fluid. My body was drowning me… simply because I had given birth,” she recounted.

Elebe revealed that she was resuscitated, admitted to the ICU, and placed on a ventilator. Despite the harrowing experience, she remained focused on small signs of recovery.

“When I asked a nurse what to do because I wanted to use the toilet, she told me to do it on the bed. I couldn’t speak, so I scribbled that she should play a worship playlist. I intensified my prayers — I asked God to just heal me enough so I could use the toilet myself. I just wanted to go home, to be with my husband and my baby, and to live,” she wrote.

She expressed immense gratitude for the timely intervention of medical staff, the support of her family, and the prayers of friends.

“Every little sign of progress, every moment I felt a bit better, I thanked God. I was thankful that we got to the ER at the right time. Thankful that the doctors diagnosed me quickly. Thankful to simply be alive. And today… I’m here. To celebrate a birthday. To be loved and cared for. I am truly blessed,” she said.