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For Prof. Edmund Delle, founder of Rabito Clinic, the events of a fateful day in 2000 remain a powerful reminder of how a seemingly insignificant decision can change the course of a life.
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A change of seat. A plane crash. A life spared.
For Prof. Edmund Delle, founder of Rabito Clinic, the events of a fateful day in 2000 remain a powerful reminder of how a seemingly insignificant decision can change the course of a life.
The renowned skin specialist says he has survived 18 accidents, including a plane crash at Kotoka International Airport, now known as Accra International Airport, in which a heavyweight boxing champion occupying the seat originally assigned to him lost his life.
Recounting the extraordinary experience in an interview with broadcaster Kafui Dey, Prof. Delle described how a chain of unexpected events led him to board the aircraft, switch seats and ultimately survive the crash.
“I’ve had 18 accidents,” he said, attributing his survival through the years to his Christian faith and the belief that God has a purpose for his life.
A journey that took an unexpected turn
The story began in 2000, when Prof. Delle travelled to Bolgatanga to open a Rabito Clinic.
He had intended to return after the opening, but friends persuaded him to stay behind and share a meal with them. The delay disrupted his plans, leaving him to consider an alternative means of getting back.
Although he usually travelled by road to save money, he decided to take a flight.
“I tried to come this time and pick up a plane. So by the time I got there, the plane was gone,” he recalled.
What happened next would take his journey in an entirely different direction.
According to Prof. Delle, he sought assistance from military personnel, one of whom recognized him as a skin specialist and asked him to examine a skin condition.
The encounter eventually led to arrangements for him to board an aircraft. However, there was a complication: a heavyweight boxing champion was occupying the seat that had been assigned to him.
The man refused to move, leaving Prof. Delle to find another place to sit.
Rather than insist on his original seat, the doctor chose to sit elsewhere, guided by a biblical lesson he remembered.
“I remember what Jesus said, that when you go to any place, don’t take the first forward. Somebody greater than you may come,” he said.
It was a decision that would take on a profound significance moments later.
The seat that changed everything
The aircraft crashed, turning what had begun as an ordinary journey into a terrifying ordeal.
Prof. Delle said the heavyweight champion who had occupied his originally assigned seat died in the crash.
“When we crashed, that man died on the seat I was on. He was the first to die,” he recounted.
For Prof. Delle, the experience remains one of the most striking episodes in a life marked by repeated brushes with death.
He described the confusion that followed the crash, recalling the sound of people crying as rain fell around the wreckage. Amid the chaos, he said, the pilot remained calm and tried to help those who had survived.
Despite his own injuries, Prof. Delle said his instinct was to check on others who needed assistance.
“I went around looking at the people who were not well,” he recalled.
In the aftermath, he also injured himself while trying to get out of the aircraft. A nurse who recognised him subsequently arranged a taxi to take him to the military hospital.
Looking back, the doctor sees the seat change as more than a random twist of fate. It is part of a much larger story through which he believes his faith has sustained him.
Another brush with death on the road
The plane crash was not the only incident in which Prof. Delle believed his life had been spared against the odds.
He also recounted a serious road accident near Salaga while campaigning for a leadership position.
According to him, the vehicle he was travelling in swerved, throwing him into some trees.
The incident left him on the ground, praying as he tried to make sense of what had happened.
“I was on the road like that with my rosary praying to God,” he said.
People who recognised him eventually took him to a nearby clinic, where he received assistance.
Prof. Delle later contacted his son, who sought help from the late former President of Ghana, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills. An aircraft was eventually arranged to transport him.
Once again, he survived.
“With the help of God again, I survived it,” he said.
For the physician, the experience reinforced a conviction that had become central to how he understood both his life and his work.
Where medicine meets faith
As the founder of Rabito Clinic, Prof. Delle has built his professional life around the treatment of skin conditions and the care of patients.
Yet, beyond the medical practice, he says his Christian faith continues to shape his outlook on life and healing.
For Prof. Delle, the ability to practice medicine is itself tied to a greater sense of responsibility before God.
“Everything I do, God is seeing,” he said.
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