Latest update April 4th, 2025 6:13 AM
Doctors refuse to remove man from life support machine
Doctors at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) have advised family members of a man, who appeared to have been badly beaten, that it is against the hospital’s policy to remove a patient from a life support machine.
Battling for life: Abdul Javed Shakur
Abdul Javed Shakur was rushed to the GPHC last week after he was discovered lying in front of his house with most of his body covered in black-and-blue marks. Since then, Shakur has been a patient in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit and his condition has been listed as critical by doctors who have been tending to him since he arrived there.
Yesterday, several of the injured man’s relatives, who asked not to be named, told this newspaper that it is difficult for them to look at their loved one seemingly suffering so much.
“He is just lifeless. He is not talking or doing anything, he is just lying there and we do not want to see him suffer like that, that is why we decided that they should take him off the machine,” a female relative said.
She further added that when they approached the doctor at the hospital and asked for their request to be granted; they were advised that once a person is breathing, they cannot remove him or her from the life support machine.
The hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael Khan in an invited comment said that it is illegal to remove a patient from life support. He added that if family members are determined to end the person’s life, then they need to get the “green light” from the Court.
“And I don’t even think the Court will make a decision to remove a patient from a life support machine,” Khan stated.
Meanwhile, the injured man’s relatives are calling on the police to do a thorough investigation into the incident that led to the man being in that condition. They explained that their relative was working with the owner of a resort as a caretaker for some time.
“This man (boss) used to provide house for him and from what we hear, this man wanted to give someone else Abdul work. We hear that the boss man sent a girl to pay Abdul and the girl find him lying in the sand and when the girl asked who did it to him, he said ‘Neil, Neil’ and he collapsed,” the relative said.
The woman said that the 30-year-old man was rushed to the Diamond Hospital and later transferred to GPHC where he remains a patient.
“Neil”, according to the relative, is seen quite often at the resort.
Kaieteur News was told that a report was made at the Madewini Police Station and to date, nothing has been done.
“We went to police headquarters and they said that they will send a rank to the hospital, but we didn’t see anyone up to now… and his boss going to the hospital three times a day, and every day, and he is not talking to anyone, so we don’t know why he going there,” the relative related.
Calls to ‘A’ Division Commander Clifton Hicken went unanswered.
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