The Chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), Justice K. E. Amua-Sekyi, last Thursday averted what, possibly, could have been a disaster.

The fourth person to appear before the Commission that day was Mr. Ohene Adabo Cofie. But just as he started to speak, Justice Amua-Sekyi called him to attention and asked him to wait in the back of Reconciliation Hall, while another witness was called forth to testify.

It was later when Justice Amua-Sekyi asked if Mr. Adabo Cofie was still available. One of the lawyers with the NRC’s Legal Department however told the chairman that Mr. Cofie’s pressure was up again and had therefore left to come back at a later date.

Meanwhile The Independent’s inquiries have revealed the intricacies of the heart problem that could be responsible for the sudden and unfortunate death of Mr Joseph Kojo Ampaw.

Mr. Ampaw is the 76-year-old London-based Ghanaian barrister who collapsed in the witness stand at the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) and later died on the way to the Ridge Hospital.

Mr. Ampaw’s statement to the NRC, dated September 10, 2002- which was returned to him the first time he posted it to the Commission- reached the NRC on January 29, 2003.

Section 11 of his statement says, “Your petitioner…suffers from cardio-myopathy contracted in prison.” Talking to this Reporter in a telephone conversation, State Registered Nurse (SRN), Miss Ingrid Opoku, who consulted her textbooks, said, myopathy is derived from two words, myocardium and a “-pathy” suffix.

The myocardium is the very thick and muscular middle wall of the human heart, which has two main chambers. The myocardium contracts and relaxes, which action makes it possible for the heart to pump blood throughout the body. Myopathy is, therefore, a group of diseases that affect the structure and function of the myocardium.

In a nutshell therefore, Miss. Opoku said, cardio-myopathy is a chronic disorder of the heart. But it is not the type that results from ethero-sclerosis, which is the accumulation of fat in the inside of the blood vessels.

The practical interpretation of that condition, according to a medical practitioner- who, interestingly, preferred to remain anonymous- is that, the myocardium or middle layer of the heart is weak or lax and has difficulty contracting as often and as powerfully as it should.

Persons with such a condition, he said, need a pacemaker, “a small device put in the body, next to the heart, in order to make the heart beat regularly if it cannot do so without one.”

The medical practitioner explained that the pacemaker is like a standby generator that prods the heart into action when for some reason it cannot do so on its own.

Since Mr. Ampaw’s unfortunate death the military health service has set up an emergency centre at the Old Parliament House.