Ola Orekunrin is a medical doctor, helicopter pilot and managing director of the Flying Doctors Nigeria Ltd, West Africa's first air ambulance service and a crucial link for critically injured people who, like many across the continent, are far away from hospital care. Along the way, Orekunrin has become a passionate advocate for finding African …
— interview by Monica Mark. This interview has been edited and condensed. What inspired you to start Flying Doctors Nigeria? This was mainly inspired by my younger [12-year-old] sister dying, here in Nigeria, because she couldn�t access an emergency service. There wasn�t an air ambulance service in Nigeria when you started out. How did you …
British-Nigerian doctor Ola Orekunrin may be only 28, but she’s already founded Nigeria’s first emergency air ambulance service. From behind the wheel of her car, Ola Orekunrin calls out an apology as she makes a rapid reverse U-turn on a street in the Nigerian city of Lagos. “A call just came in for an emergency …