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GPHC Maternal death…Grieving husband left with huge expenses
– hopes Health Ministry will compensate him
“My wife went into that hospital looking and feeling good and come out back dead because they couldn’t take the time to give her proper care…”
When Nigel Rodney tied the blissful wedding knot with his sweetheart Luan a few years ago he was convinced that they would be growing old together. It wasn’t long after they became parents to their first child, Marsha, giving them the sense of really becoming a family unit.
Four years later their second child was on the way and the two were anxiously deciding on names. And since their anticipated child was another girl, two names that were under serious consideration was Kelisha or Kenisha. The name didn’t really matter to Nigel though; he was just anxious to cradle his newborn in his arms and even had plans to parade the streets of the Meadow Brook Garden Squatting area to show her off.
But by the start of June, the anticipated member of the Rodney family was way overdue which saw the expectant mother being admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for labour to be induced. Luan was admitted on Monday June 3, 2013.
Nigel Rodney and his wife in happy times.
Nigel remembers all too well how he was excited about returning to the hospital the following day to collect his wife and their new baby.
But the morning of June 4 did not turn out the way he had envisioned. Instead of being greeted with news of being a father to a newborn, hospital officials informed Nigel that not only was his wife dead but his baby was stillborn.
Twenty-eight-year-old Luan was pronounced dead in the wee hours of June 4 in the maternity unit of the GPHC.
It has been more than two months since that devastating blow to his life but according to the widower, during an interview with this publication on Saturday, he is still struggling to accept the stark reality. In fact, he disclosed that the whole ordeal has left him with more expense than he has ever known.
Nigel, who operates as a weeder/landscaper, said that he is struggling to make ends meet as he is now required to act as both mother and father to his four-year-old daughter, thus he is unable to work the hours he could’ve in the past. “I have to ensure Marsha eats, I have to take care of her…I do get some help from my mother but I can’t leave everything on her because Marsha is my child,” explained a despondent Nigel.
A recently completed investigation into the death of Luan by an Expert Committee deduced that both doctors and nurses, who were tasked with attending to her, were negligent in the care rendered. Both sets of professionals were sent on administration leave pending the outcome of the investigation but their ultimate fates currently lie in the hands of both the Medical and Nursing Council, according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud.
But according to Nigel, he was only privy to the development of the investigation through the media, although officials at the hospital had assured him that they would keep him abreast. “They promised me to keep me aware of what was going on…they talked to me a few times but people on the streets knowing about the developments before me…I know that they (the hospital) already knew from the beginning what happened to my wife but I thought they would be professional enough to call me in and tell me about the findings themselves so I gave them the time to do their thing…they even asked me not to talk to the media,” said Nigel.
And since he does not have the wherewithal to take legal action against the health institution, Nigel is hopeful that the management of the hospital or the relevant authority would see it fit to compensate him for the expenses he has had to incur because of his wife’s death. “The least they can do now is compensate me for something that happened because of their negligence…”
“My wife went into that hospital looking and feeling good and come out back dead because they couldn’t take the time to give her proper care,” asserted the distraught man.
He is however hopeful that his wife’s death has not occurred in vain since he anticipates that the service offered at the hospital will be improved so that another life could be saved in the future.
Although dealing with the death of his wife and baby has not been easy Nigel disclosed that he finds comfort in some of the many stories in the Bible. “I have come to accept that nothing can happen unless God allows it to happen and somehow I hope that some good will come out of the situation,” added Nigel.
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