TikTok star and skitmaker Ben South, known as Dabodabo, recently opened up about why he left nursing shortly after graduating in 2023. He shared that balancing comedy with his nursing duties was tough, especially after witnessing frequent deaths during his National Service at Suntreso Hospital in Kumasi.
During an interview on The Delay Show, Ben South revealed how those experiences impacted his mental health. “I couldn’t blend the comedy job with nursing, so I had to choose one, and I chose comedy,” he said. He recounted starting his National Service in the Emergency Ward, where he often saw death and accident victims, which made him feel emotionally drained. “Whenever I got home, I’d feel sad thinking about the deaths and accidents that had happened at the hospital,” he shared.
One particular incident still haunts him. “I remember a pastor I was taking care of died in my arms. He was brought in during the evening, and by the next morning, he had passed away. I was the first person his wife met, and she asked me how he was doing, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell her what had happened,” Ben South recalled. After incidents like this, he decided to step back from nursing, though he left open the possibility of returning someday.
When asked if he hadn’t expected these challenges during his training, he explained his background in psychiatric nursing. “I trained as a psychiatric nurse, working with people who have mental health issues, which can be a humorous experience,” he noted. He mentioned an experience with patients having pseudobulbar affect (PBA), a condition that causes uncontrollable laughter. “Imagine being in a hospital with someone laughing for that long—you might end up laughing with them!” he joked, adding that psychiatric nursing allowed him to gather content from patients, making it more enjoyable for him than general nursing.
However, his National Service required him to rotate through different wards, including pediatrics, emergency, and general male and female wards, which proved overwhelming. “Since I couldn’t handle it anymore, I decided to leave nursing. I only did three months of my national service before I stopped working,” Ben South explained.
Watch the interview below..