A young unemployed mother has been rescued by Fidelity Bank after she was unable to pay her bills at the hospital.

Mary Arthur, 24, could not be discharged from the hospital over a GH₵400 debt.

The Bono Regional Hospital treated her forty-day-old baby who had been sick.

Staff at the Sunyani branch of the bank quickly took the matter up hours after their attention was drawn to it.

The team, led by Samuel Ansu Yeboah, Manager, Fidelity Bank, Sunyani Postbank, paid all she owed the hospital, gave her additional cash of GH₵500 to start a small business, assorted hampers of baby care products worth GH₵300, and drove them to Petigo, near Bechem, in the Ahafo Region, where they came from.

Mary expressed delight to the Bank for the love shown to her and the baby.

The manager said that as part of their core values, staff are encouraged to touch lives and support the needy in the society. And they didn't hesitate to assist the distressed mother and her baby, just like financing the fixing of some deadly potholes at the Sunyani Post office roundabout.

Both were abandoned by the baby's father even before they were referred to Sunyani from the Bechem Government hospital in the Tano South Municipality after the baby was diagnosed with severe bronchopneumonia. Bronchopneumonia is a type of pneumonia that causes inflammation in the alveoli, causing trouble breathing because airways are constricted.

She alleges she was told to accept whatever outcome during the treatment in Sunyani. By God's grace, the baby was treated but she had no money to pay the bills before being discharged.

The unemployed mother could not foot the bill even after one week. The desperate mother was advised to visit any nearby church on Sunday, with the hope of getting help for her plight.

Rev Alex Owusu Dankwah of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, The Hour of Salvation Congregation, Penkwase, a suburb of Sunyani, upon engaging her sort of support from a banker church member because his hands were full presently, attending to many similar cases.

"The church will have to put their ears on the ground and not seem to neglect the poor in the communities. That epitomises what Christ stands for," he advised.

Mrs Matilda Agyei Kyeremeh, Nurse Manager at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, told Joy News, together with her colleagues, they have been providing her needs, all the days she spent at the hospital.

"She made us aware of her situation that though she has been referred to Sunyani, she has no money and nobody to assist her. No relative came around. So we had to put our heads together, contribute our widow’s mite to ensure her baby gets the best of care. Because, as a breastfeeding mother, the baby gets well if she is not malnourished," she said.

She, however, called on individuals, groups and organisations to come to the aid of the patients who struggle to pay their bills.